At least €1.3m has been embezzled from healthcare funds for the frail, elderly and handicapped, tv programme Nova claimed on Tuesday night.

Nova bases its claims on research obtained under the freedom of information act. The figure of €1.3m is based on an investigation into 39 cases, averaging € 35,000 each.
At the moment the elderly and handicapped can ask for a personal budget known as a pgb to buy care services. But the rules for spending it are so lax that fraud is easy, the police and public prosecution department information shows.
In one case, a man continued to claim the budget for his mother unchallenged, even though she had died five years previously.