Nuremberg (dpa / lby) – Two operators of corona test centers in the Nuremberg area and one of their employees have to answer in court on September 29 on suspicion of billing fraud. This was announced by the Nuremberg justice press office on Tuesday.
The two operators are said to have wrongly billed a total of 651,000 euros. However, only 437,000 euros were paid out before the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians became aware of the investigation. The process was started by a bank that had started a money laundering process.
The public prosecutor’s office had already seized more than 100,000 euros and a Mercedes that brought in 110,000 euros in the course of the investigation. Overall, the Nuremberg Public Prosecutor’s Office, as the prosecuting authority, accuses the two main suspects of fraud in eight cases and attempted fraud in 20 cases – the third suspect being an accessory to this.
The two men are said to have operated test centers in the cities of Nuremberg, Fürth and Schwabach. The number of tests billed to the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians was significantly higher than the number of tests actually carried out. The third accused, an employee of the two operators, is said to have reported the excessive numbers and thus helped with the fraud.
One of the two main defendants is also accused of subsidy fraud. He got 140,000 euros in state aid by providing false information. Among other things, he is said to have reported loss of sales for a café and holiday accommodation during the corona pandemic. However, the deals had already ceased to exist. There are also said to have been irregularities in connection with a player brokerage for professional footballers.
A total of six days of negotiations are scheduled for the trial at the district court. A verdict is expected on October 21.
