The Dutch healthcare authority NZa has handed over what is says is proof that family doctors chain Co-Med committed fraud to the public prosecution office following an investigation.

The chain went bankrupt last year after insurers terminated their contracts, leaving thousands of patients in the lurch.

The NZa concluded that Co-Med had filed too many expense declarations, some of which were falsified. Investigators also found other financial irregularities in the commercial company’s books.

Co-Med was set up in 2019 by three entrepreneurs who bought up the practices of retiring family doctors who failed to find successors.

The practices were almost immediately beset by staffing problems leading to complaints from patients about a lack of emergency care and accessibility by phone. The health inspectorate later slammed the chain for putting patients at risk.

The NZa began its investigation in 2022 when Co-med was unable to explain irregularities in the way it declared health costs. Last year it also concluded that Co-Med took over several practices without telling the NZa and without its permission.