Incorrectly billed rapid tests
Another million-dollar fraud in test centers revealed
02/23/2022, 9:00 p.m
Test centers seem to be taking advantage of the high payments for corona tests carried out more and more frequently. In southern Baden, six men are arrested and 50 test centers are closed because false bills were issued.
Half a dozen men are said to have made a fraudulent business worth millions in the Karlsruhe area and in southern Baden with false accounts for rapid corona tests. Six suspects, aged between 25 and 33, were arrested after a raid, prosecutors and police said. Four of them were remanded in custody, two more were to be brought before the magistrate. More than 50 test stations have been closed. They are said to have been operated by the gang or by their middlemen.
A large police force with more than 200 officers had already searched apartments, bars, offices and test stations on Tuesday. The alleged fraudsters are said to have billed for more tests than had been carried out.
The investigators did not name an exact amount of damage, but according to estimates it should be in the single-digit million range. About 1.3 million euros in cash were confiscated. Investigators also confiscated two firearms and ammunition, as well as several cars and other valuables. Overall, the police in Baden-Württemberg are processing dozens of cases of possible billing fraud at corona test centers. Only two weeks ago it became known that a man in the greater Stuttgart area is said to have billed for large-scale corona tests that were never carried out.
In order to prevent fraud with corona tests and to increase the quality of such tests, researchers recommend a different financing model for the rapid tests. Instead of paying for every test carried out, there should only be money for positive tests and tests confirmed by a PCR test – but then significantly more, suggest economics professor Hanno Beck from Pforzheim University and colleagues. This gives a strong incentive to carry out rapid tests carefully with qualified personnel. Because the goal is then to identify infected people.