Covid-19: investigations opened in Germany for fraud in fictitious tests
A Covid-19 test center on the market square in Bonn on April 27, 2021. AP - Martin Meissner
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Rapid Covid tests are now part of our daily lives.
This is also the case in Germany where the number of centers has exploded.
But the lack of controls fosters abuse.
Justice has launched proceedings.
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With our correspondent in Berlin,
Pascal Thibault
Closed restaurant, old games room, church: they have been blooming for a few weeks on every street corner in Germany. A quick training on the net, a very formal authorization, and here you are at the head of a rapid covid test center. It is true that with the current flexibilities, we need it all the time to have a beer on the terrace of a café, to renew our wardrobe for the summer or to go to the swimming pool.
They are free for visitors.
But centers can charge up to 18 euros per test.
At the end of the race, the State takes charge of the expenses.
While the documents must be kept for up to three years, it is very easy to declare more tests when they have not all been carried out.
And the costs reimbursed for the hardware, up to six euros, are significantly higher than the test prices on the market.
The names of the persons treated do not have to be declared.
The lack of control of centers with attractive margins gives rise to abuse.
Justice in several regions has opened proceedings.
The Minister of Health denounced "
those who use the pandemic to enrich themselves in a criminal way and should be ashamed
".
Even within the majority, the Social Democrats denounce the minister's management of the file and excessively flexible rules facilitating fraud.
►Also read: Germany: great success for antigenic tests sold in commerce
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