The process of a previous corona test center operator has been going on for almost six months. He was silent for a long time. Now there is a twist.
Bochum (dpa / lnw) - In the process of billing fraud worth millions, a former corona test center operator from Bochum confessed after six months. "I was immersed in chaos," said a statement read by his defense attorney at the Bochum district court on Tuesday. It is true that he has billed his company “Medican” for too many rapid corona tests. The public prosecutor accuses the 49-year-old defendant of having billed the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians for almost a million citizen tests that were not even carried out. The resulting damage is said to amount to around 25 million euros.
The defendant cited software problems as the reason for the incorrect billing, and the investment costs for mobile test stations in converted buses had grown beyond his head. In the months of March and April 2021, in the absence of available figures, he therefore stated a "fictitious number of tests carried out" in order to remain liquid. The own recording system failed.
According to his own statements, the Bochum businessman now wants to accept the numbers listed in the indictment, as well as a prison sentence of between six and six and a half years promised by the court. He also wants to do everything possible to compensate for the damage caused. The 49-year-old had previously remained silent about the allegations in the criminal proceedings that had been ongoing since December 2021.
The criminal proceedings against his son, who was originally accused, had already been discontinued at an earlier point in time against payment of 10,000 euros. A judgment date has not yet been set.
