Unknown people have apparently stolen corona aid - on such a large scale that the federal government is temporarily suspending the advance payments - in the middle of the crisis.
Berlin - "In some cases there is a suspicion that government aid funds have been illegally obtained," said the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance on a website about the various Corona aid *.
The sober-sounding sentence has serious consequences - at least for those who depend on the help and have not cheated in the process.
The down payments - better known as quick corona state aid for companies - have been temporarily stopped according to information from "Business Insider".
Apparently, some companies had insidiously benefited from the Corona * crisis and applied for funds under false identities.
"The responsible authorities have already started investigations," writes the ministry.
And: "It is a shame that attempts are being made here to exploit the plight of our companies during the corona crisis and to steal the government aid that many urgently need."
Massive corona fraud: amount of damage unknown - scandal with political explosiveness
The amount of the damage was initially not known, the Ministry of Economic Affairs could not be reached for a statement for the time being, reports the dpa.
"Business Insider"
wants to be able to justify the reluctance of the ministry: It could be a large-scale scandal, quite politically explosive.
According to this, strangers are said to have found several loopholes in the Corona * aid and exploited them in a targeted manner.
Not only the Federal Ministry of Economics, but also state authorities are said to have been deceived.
According to
"Business Insider",
the November and December aid as well as the bridging aid I to III
are affected
.
Corona * Aids I to III are aimed at companies, the self-employed and associations and relate to state support in November and December 2020 with around 75 percent of sales in the previous year.
Corona aid: The federal government has approved more than 86 billion euros in state aid
According to the ministry, more than 86 billion euros in state aid for the economy have been approved since the beginning of the Corona * crisis.
For the so-called bridging aid III, which can be applied for since February 10th, payments of more than 650.7 million euros were paid out.
(nai / dpa)
List of rubric lists: © Wolfgang Kumm / dpa / picture alliance
