Nuremberg/Neumarkt (dpa/lby) - The Nuremberg-Fürth public prosecutor's office has filed charges against two men from the Upper Palatinate on suspicion of fraud in the trade in mouth and nose protective masks. One of the two managing directors of a company from the Neumarkt area was a local politician from the Free Voters. Both suspects had meanwhile been in custody.
According to the prosecution on Friday, the two men are said to have sold around 2.5 million masks to the State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL) during the first corona wave in April 2020, almost half of which did not meet the agreed quality standards. The accused are said to have even submitted a forged confirmation. Later, after the Chinese manufacturer pointed out the quality problems, the two still resold the masks to pharmacies. In these cases, however, the investigators had found fewer masks of lower quality than when they were sold to the LGL.
The charges include nine counts of fraud and 20 counts of attempted fraud. There is also forgery of documents. The public prosecutor called 47 witnesses. The district court of Nuremberg-Fürth must now decide whether to admit the charges. According to the public prosecutor's office, the two suspects deny their guilt.
One of the two managing directors also turned to the Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (free voters) for support in initiating the deal. Aiwanger stated that he forwarded the request to the LGL. Aiwanger did not say at the time whether the petitioner was the local politician of the Free Voters.
