- New charges against family doctor for fake coronavirus certificates
About two months after her conviction for forged COVID-19 certificates, the Dresden Public Prosecutor's Office has filed a new indictment against a general practitioner from Moritzburg. The doctor is suspected of issuing a further 349 of these "false health certificates" in November 2021 and January 2022, with 167 cases considered "particularly serious". The doctor is alleged to have earned around 17,000 euros from these so-called "courtesy certificates".
The 67-year-old is accused of issuing certificates to patients in her practice or at two collective events in Moosburg and Ottenburg in Upper Bavaria, stating that they were exempt from wearing masks, had an unlimited ban on vaccination of any kind, or that COVID-19 tests could only be performed via saliva for medical reasons. In most cases, there was no prior examination of the recipients' physical condition, no anamnesis or examination, and no clarification of medical findings. The Dresden Regional Court must now decide on the admissibility of the indictment and set a date for the main trial.
In a first trial there, the woman was sentenced in mid-June to two years and eight months' imprisonment for forging around 1,000 COVID-19 certificates worth a total of nearly 48,000 euros. The appeals of the Public Prosecutor's Office and the defense are still pending. The judges were convinced that she issued lifelong exemptions from wearing masks and from rapid tests via nasal/pharyngeal swabs, as well as an unlimited vaccination ban, on order at five collective events throughout the country.
They described her actions as "highly criminal" and imposed a three-year professional ban, but suspended the arrest warrant subject to reporting conditions. This meant that the woman was released after almost 16 months in pre-trial detention - until the judgment became final.
The Dresden Regional Court is responsible for deciding on the admissibility of the new indictment against the general practitioner by the Dresden Public Prosecutor's Office. If found guilty, she may face similar consequences as the woman in the first trial, who was convicted by the Court of Justice for forging COVID-19 certificates and received a two-year and eight-month prison sentence.
