The Darmstadt public prosecutor is investigating suspected subsidy fraud in the Darmstadt State Theater.
A spokesman for the public prosecutor's office said after the magazine “Der Spiegel” had initially reported that it was about the question of whether short-time work benefits totaling around 900,000 euros were wrongly applied for in July 2021.
As a result, the employees would have paused anyway due to the theater holidays - but these holidays are said to have been postponed.
There is an anonymous report, said the prosecutor's spokesman.
The application has not yet been approved
The application, the theater told the FAZ, had not yet been approved for July.
A catalog of questions had been sent for the application, which the theater, like others, would answer before.
It is assumed that the reasons justifying short-time work allowance also exist for July.
Because the delays in the renovations and the resulting consequences were corona-related.
“The Darmstadt State Theater has submitted applications for short-time working allowance for the months December 2020 to July 2021.
Short-time work allowance was granted for this period with the exception of July.
As far as we know, this is in the regular testing and hearing procedure at the Federal Agency and has not yet been finalized, ”said the Hessian Ministry of Science and Art (HMWK) at the request of the FAZ
The Ministry was informed in June by the State Theater about the postponement of the theater holidays, the causes and the further course of action.
"They stated that the shortage of materials in Corona times in particular delayed the renovation of the venue so that a quick change of direction was necessary and the employees were still sent on short-time work." Postponement agreed.
“The HMWK was not involved in the specific application for short-time work allowance.” Regardless of this, the ministry is examining the matter as part of its legal and official supervision.