ATHENS – After the deaths of 30 reidents at a nursing home on Crete, and accusations others were abused, not fed, their clothes not cleaned, their homes robbed and forced to wear used diapers, police arrested seven people.

They were the owner and his daughter, two doctors, three nurses and administrative staff and charged with forming a criminal group – none of them named – reported Kathimerini and Cretapost.

The nursing home – also not identified – was in Hania, and a case file reportedly referred to 30 murders and eight cases of attempted murder between 2009-21, as well as fraud, forgery, issuing false medical certificates and breach of duty.

There was no report why their families didn’t notice abuse nor why it took more than 12 years to bring charges, nor if the state or health officials had conducted inspections over that time or why alleged abuse wasn’t noticed.

Police sources not named said the number of deaths from neglect will be even higher but said they are having difficulty compiling enough evidence to prosecute in those cases.

The case file states that the home allocated 55 cents a day for residents’ food, rarely meat or fruit, that milk was diluted with water, patients were forced fed to the point of some choking and others given leftover food or entrails given free by local suppliers.

Residents were rarely washed and their clothing rarely cleaned while the towels and razors they used were shared, some were tied down to beds with leather straps and heavily sedated, the reports added.

Searches in the homes of the arrested found 105,000 euros ($120,078) in cash and jewelry police were said to believe were the proceeds of criminal activity.

No investigation began until April 2021 following complaints of lack of care, the report added.