Anca Dumitrovici Ababneh, former head of the Oncology Department at the Suceava County Emergency Hospital, was sentenced to suspended imprisonment for bribery. Anti-corruption prosecutors established that in a single day the doctor took bribes from 29 cancer patients.
In less than a month, she received bribes 280 times from cancer patients, as reported by Adevărul.
However, the Suceava Court sentenced her on Thursday to two years and six months of suspended imprisonment.
The court prohibited Anca Ababneh Dumitrovici from practicing as a doctor in the public healthcare system for five years, but she will be able to work in the private sector.
The judges established a four-year supervision period, during which the doctor must adhere to a program set by the Probation Service and perform 100 days of community service.
The court's decision is not final.
Anca Ababneh Dumitrovici admitted the accusations and was judged in a simplified procedure to benefit from a one-third reduction of the sentence.
The oncologist was placed in preventive arrest on January 20, 2023, after one day earlier, the prosecutors raided the Oncology Department of the Suceava County Hospital. Later, Dumitrovici was placed under house arrest in her villa.
Prosecutors claim that Anca Ababneh Dumitrovici, "between April 2022 and 19.01.2023, repeatedly demanded and received various amounts of money (variable amounts, namely 50 lei, 100 lei, 200 lei, 50 euros) or other benefits (honey, cheese, coffee, chocolate candies, cheese etc.) from 64 individuals, patients or their relatives, in connection with the performance of official duties, namely for carrying out medical acts related to cancer treatment and care that should have been provided free of charge."
Anti-corruption officers made several audio-video recordings in the doctor's office after two individuals filed complaints against her.
One of the complaints was filed in Bucharest by the relatives of a former military patient who allegedly died after the oncologist failed to prescribe the necessary treatment for months.
The doctor's office was under audio-video surveillance for a month, from mid-December 2022 to mid-January 2023. During this period, Anca Ababneh Dumitrovici took bribes 280 times from cancer patients or their relatives.
Anti-corruption prosecutors discovered that the doctor took bribes 29 times in a single day. In total, she received 20,660 lei, 750 euros, and various goods, from perfumes, boxes of candies, to coffee, cheese, eggs, or mushrooms.