Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has ordered checks on homes for the elderly, children and the disabled after raids on several retirement homes revealed systematic ill-treatment of residents.
The victims were subjected to “inhumane” or degrading treatment, were forced to work without pay, and were not given sufficient food and adequate medical treatment in facilities for the care of elderly and disabled people, the anti organized crime agency DIICOT said in a press release.
Prosecutors allege that two criminal gangs exploited vulnerable people in a systematic way for profit at the homes, which had been paid to look after their residents.
Ciolacu ordered the checks to be carried out “in a very short time, a week, coordinated by the prefects.”
“This is a temporary situation generated by the urgency of the moment. All these people will be transferred to specialized centers to get the care they need. I am sure the health minister will provide all the necessary details,” he said on Sunday.
In addition to abuse, the vulnerable people were kept „in a state of servitude to the members of organized criminal groups” so that the groups’ leaders and the other members could illegally collect their benefits, Romanian police said.
Romanian authorities on July 4 raided several nursing homes and elderly care facilities in Bucharest and other locations in Romania over allegations of patient abuse.
DIICOT prosecutors and Romanian police searched dozens of homes as part of an investigation into mistreatment and exploitation of elderly and disabled people.
According to DIICOT and Romanian police, 26 arrest warrants were issued for suspects.
The actions on July 4 took place after Romanian media published a report that residents of the village of Voluntari near Bucharest told broadcaster Digi24 they had seen residents begging for food at the fence around one of the homes.
