Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – The public prosecutor’s office in Stuttgart is investigating five people between the ages of 27 and 32 because of suspected fraud with rapid corona tests. From May 2021, they operated several test centers at the same time and billed for more tests than they actually carried out, the public prosecutor and the State Criminal Police Office said on Thursday in Stuttgart. The alleged damage amounts to several million euros.

Residential and business premises in the Stuttgart and Karlsruhe area as well as in Oldenburg in Lower Saxony and in Bremen were searched on Thursday. More than 50 civil servants from Baden-Württemberg and the other federal states were involved. At the same time, several corona test stations were examined. Extensive evidence was secured, it said. This must now be evaluated.