By Trend

The French government plans to file a criminal complaint against home care group Orpea over allegations of mistreatment of elderly patients, government minister Brigitte Bourguignon said in a statement Saturday, Trend reports citing Reuters.

Following a month and a half-long investigation into the group's management and financial practices, the government found "significant dysfunctioning in the group's management, to the detriment of the care of its residents," according to the health ministry.

The government said it would send its conclusions to state prosecutors and seek to recover public funds provided to the company after uncovering possible irregularities in how they were used.

The government is seeking to recover as much as several tens of millions of euros, corresponding to the period 2017 to 2020, Bourguignon said in an interview published in the French weekly newspaper Journal du Dimanche early Sunday.

Orpea responded later on Saturday that while the government report "does shed light on certain dysfunctions," it also "allows us to conclude that there is no organised 'system' that would lead to widespread abuse."