Operators of two corona test stations in Cologne are under massive suspicion of fraud.
According to the documents they submitted, up to 36 percent of all tests from around 800 test stations in Cologne would have been carried out in their two test stations, the police said.
On Thursday, apartments and business premises were searched in Cologne and Bergheim. The 25, 26 and 31-year-old operators of the test stations are said to have falsified documents in May and June and submitted unexecuted tests to the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians for payment. The proceedings had started after anonymous reports. The test stations were located in a sisha bar in the city center and in the Ehrenfeld district.
Both the total number of tests submitted for payment and the proportion of negative results that were too high in relation to the total number were noticeable - in which there is no need for action by the health department. The payment of nearly two million euros could have been prevented due to the early investigations, according to the police. The investigators now want to use the secured documents to check how many tests have actually been carried out.