Munich (dpa/lby) - In the process of thousands of billing frauds in a corona test center in Geretsried, Upper Bavaria, the two accused confessed to the crimes on Wednesday. "That was greed," said the 31-year-old defendant before the Munich district court. His 34-year-old fiancée and accomplice also admitted the allegations.
According to the indictment, the two billed the Bavarian Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KVB) for more than 13,000 tests in their mobile phone shop, which had been converted into a test center - around 12,000 more than they actually carried out. A good 171,000 euros were transferred to them for this; a good 150,000 more than they were entitled to.
The couple is said to have squandered most of the money. When the two were found out a few weeks after the transfer, there were only just under 50,000 euros left. He "lived in the lap of luxury," said the 31-year-old to the police.
The scam was discovered after an anonymous call to the police. In this way, a second payment by the KVB could also be stopped. "Wrongly billed amounts totaling more than 185,000 euros were no longer paid out," said the Bavarian Central Office for Combating Fraud and Corruption in the Health Care System (ZKG) at the Nuremberg Public Prosecutor's Office, which conducted the investigations in this case and also brought the charges.
The court also showed how easy the fraud was made for the accused couple: According to one of the defense lawyers, the KVB only asked for the number of tests billed, no further evidence: "Enter the number, be satisfied with the number - done."
