A former operator of corona test centers in Berlin rejected the allegations of fraud in the millions. The defense attorney for the 46-year-old, to whom the public prosecutor assigns 18 test centers, explained in front of the Berlin district court on Monday that his client initially operated two and later only one test center.
The allegation that he had named other people as operators to the authorities in order to conceal his responsibility is emphatically denied. The co-accused sister (44) of the 46-year-old was initially silent.
Between May 2021 and February 2022, the accused are said to have billed the Berlin Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians for corona tests that were not carried out at all or not in the specified number. According to the indictment, the man is said to have swindled around 9.7 million euros and the woman around 2.5 million euros. According to the indictment, the 46-year-old forwarded more than 6.6 million euros to an account in Turkey.
For the main defendant, his defense attorney Thomas Baumeyer said in passing that his client had “committed no fraud and obtained no money illegally”. The state is accused of a “very serious failure” in connection with corona test centers. Controls were not carried out.
The 46-year-old businessman, who is said to have run numerous late purchases and other businesses in Berlin, is accused of fraud in a particularly serious case. 67 alleged acts are accused. The sister has to answer for aiding and abetting.
The indictment accuses the 46-year-old of having named his sister and two separately prosecuted accomplices to the authorities as the operator “to conceal his factual operational responsibility”. The sister promoted the actions of the 46-year-old by, among other things, allowing the use of her personal details for the registration and billing of test centers.
The two siblings were arrested at the end of March 2022 during searches of apartments and test stations in Berlin. The businessman has been in custody since then, and his sister hasn’t been since June. For the trial, 13 further trial appointments are planned until October 24th.
Comparable cases also concern the judiciary in other federal states, such as in Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia. In Bochum, an entrepreneur was sentenced to six years in prison in June who confessed to having billed far more so-called citizen tests than had actually been carried out.
The court estimated the amount of damage caused to the federal government at around 24.5 million euros. In May, the Freiburg district court sentenced a young man to a suspended sentence because he had collected around 5.7 million euros for a test center that had never been operated.
