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Test station in Cologne (archive picture)
Photo: Marius Becker / dpa
Operators of two corona test stations in Cologne are under massive suspicion of fraud.
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 police said.
According to the documents they submitted, more than a third of all tests carried out in Cologne would have been carried out in the two test stations alone.
There are a total of around 800 test stations in Cologne.
The proceedings had started after anonymous reports.
Investigators then searched apartments and business premises in Cologne and nearby Bergheim on Thursday.
The affected stations are located in a hookah 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 striking.
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 were actually carried out.
Fraud cases in other cities
Similar suspected cases of fraud had previously become known in other German cities - including Berlin and Giessen.
Three suspects aged 26, 28 and 53 are under investigation in the capital.
You are charged with having caused a total loss of half a million euros on a commercial basis.
They are said to have not delivered tests that have already been paid for via bogus companies and, on the other hand, not to have paid for tests already delivered.
Falsified results were apparently also sent in Giessen.
On the trail of the alleged fraudsters, the investigators were brought to the attention of a witness who had received the wrong time on her negative PCR test result via WhatsApp.
She also had to pay cash for the test.
The investigations then revealed that the laboratory results were falsified.
During subsequent searches in the test center and among the accused, the investigators discovered a four-digit sum in cash, storage media and a copy of an apparently falsified laboratory report.
lmd / dpa