A hospital employee has recently been described as the "King of Absence," because he has been regularly paid for 15 years, while he has never performed at all.

The total salaries received by this staff member who did not perform any work during this period amounted to € 538 thousand.

The Italian staff member, who recorded a record absence, has been on the staff of a hospital in Catanzaro since 2005.

He is currently 67 years old, but his adventure has not ended peacefully, as he is facing great trouble before the courts.

The charges against the staff member include; Abuse of office, as well as fraud and extortion, while 6 officials suspected of turning a blind eye to this absence are being investigated.

The case was controversial and infuriated, as the Italians considered such facts to be lenient in spending public money, since the employee had been wrongly paid for years.

In 2005, he was suspected of threatening the director of the hospital when she wanted to write a report on his lack of attendance at work.

The Director subsequently retired, and the lazy staff member got rid of the accounting, and his presence was then unvarnished and the Human Resources Section did not act.

In 2016, the Italian authorities tightened proceedings against absentees, particularly after cases of senior public servants had been exposed.

Since then, the police have increased the pace of investigation and surveillance, which has led to a number of circumvention and lazy staff.