Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) – In the applications for Corona bridging aid in Hesse, there was a suspicion of subsidy fraud in 866 cases. When examining the requested documents and evidence and by comparing data with the financial authorities, incorrect information and forged documents were found in the applications for bridging aid III and III Plus, said Economics Minister Tarek Al-Wazir (Greens) in response to a parliamentary question from the non-attached MP Rainer Rahn in Wiesbaden.
A total of 34,960 companies submitted applications for Bridging Aid III and around 2.4 billion euros have been paid out so far. 16,873 companies in Hesse submitted applications for bridging aid III Plus. The sum paid out for this amounted to around 683 million euros. In more than 300 cases, rejection notices were issued.
At the beginning of the year, there were searches in the apartments and business premises of twelve suspects in Hesse on suspicion of gang-based subsidy fraud. At the center of the investigation was a tax consultancy firm in Wetterau, under whose name false applications for corona bridging aid were made for several restaurateurs. According to the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office, 320,000 euros were wrongly paid out for applications totaling 750,000 euros.