The State Audit Office wants to check whether tax money has been used appropriately for the operation of the vaccination centers.
The vaccination center in Friesland has been the focus of attention for a long time due to the fact that billing may be too high.
The taxpayers' association speaks of a "felt".
Hildesheim - The Lower Saxony State Audit Office wants to review the corona vaccination centers in Lower Saxony that were operated until a few weeks ago. "We are currently working on an audit concept and will tackle it in the coming calendar year," said Michael Markmann, member of the Senate at the Court of Auditors, on Wednesday. It is about a "systemic review", in which, among other things, contracts, invoices and the establishment of several, but not all, vaccination centers in the country should be checked. “We want to know how it went across the country,” said Markmann. Several media had previously reported, including the “Tageszeitung” and the “Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung”.
The Court of Auditors is also reacting to the proposal of the Federation of Taxpayers in Lower Saxony (BdSt), which had called for a special audit for the vaccination center of the Friesland district in Schortens. The aim was to check whether the tax monies paid for the business up to August were legally and economically spent. According to him, it is a total of 1.38 million euros.
The "Spiegel" had reported that the DRK district association Jeverland, which had operated the center until August, is said to have billed excessively high salaries for employees. Accordingly, the DRK agreed with the district of Friesland for these personnel cost rates, some of which were up to three times as high as the salaries actually paid. In this way, the DRK is said to have withheld more than 50,000 euros a month in wage costs from the district. The DRK Jeverland recently stated that the district was aware of the gross hourly wages before the contract was signed. The district assumed that the DRK would pass the agreed payments on to its employees.
The Court of Auditors does not do a special audit in the Friesland case, said spokesman Markmann. Nonetheless, the files on the Schortens vaccination center would most likely be made in the coming year as part of the generally intended review. This general review of vaccination centers in the country is of "great interest," said Markmann. So far, however, an examination has not yet started in order not to stand in the way of coping with the pandemic.
The taxpayers' association had previously expressed clear criticism of the district of Friesland and demanded “complete clarification” about connections between the district and the DRK district association Jeverland in the operation of the vaccination center. "The suspicion that tax money was misdirected through felt-like structures is in the room," said state chairman Bernhard Zentgraf. The association referred to an unnamed board member of the DRK district association Jeverland. According to the Taxpayers' Association, he was also involved in drafting the contract for the vaccination center as a senior employee in the district administration.
The district essentially contradicted this representation on Wednesday: The district was aware of the voluntary work of the employee concerned at the DRK. Both the employee and other employees who were responsible for setting up the vaccination center made sure "that no substantive decisions were made or agreements were made by this colleague," said the district administration. The employee had never spoken to the district for the DRK or acted as a board member, it said.
Meanwhile, the CDU parliamentary group in the district assembly in Jever called for further clarification in the case on Wednesday and announced a questionnaire for the district.
According to its own statement, the parliamentary group had inspected the communication between the district and the DRK.
It was found that the employee of the district should have used his private e-mail address in the contract negotiations with the DRK.
“Our position is very clear: the public sector must not even give the impression that a conflict of interest could arise.
And certainly not when there are seven-digit sums in the room, ”said the deputy parliamentary group chairman Axel Homfeldt.
First of all, the “Jeversche Wochenblatt” reported on Wednesday.
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The district replied to the dpa request: "The employee only used the work account for his communication." Rather, the employee received mails from third parties to his private mailbox, which he then forwarded to his work mailbox for processing.
The now closed vaccination center of the district of Friesland has been in the headlines for months after a registered nurse admitted to having injected mostly with saline solutions instead of vaccines.
dpa
