Sports car with corona aids? Prison sentences for fraud
Using a fraudulent business model consisting of company formations and sham invoices, a gang in Munich is alleged to have wrongfully received coronavirus bridging aid amounting to 1.7 million euros. The defendants had concealed the sham nature of their business with an elaborate invoicing and payment carousel, Munich Regional Court I announced. The Economic Criminal Chamber therefore sentenced four men to prison sentences on Thursday for gang and commercial subsidy fraud and aiding and abetting fraud. The sentences of the confessed defendants ranged from two and a half to four and a half years. The verdict is not final.
The men had enriched themselves at the expense of the general public in an acute emergency situation in which unbureaucratic help was expressly desirable, criticized the presiding judge of the 6th Grand Criminal Chamber, who saw a high level of criminal energy in this. Two of the defendants had used the aid payments to purchase a sports car each, for example.
The court was convinced that the men ran one or more companies in the catering and event industry. In view of the fraud, they jointly founded another company, according to the verdict, in order to allegedly sell hygiene products, training courses and hygiene-promoting conversions during the pandemic. They invoiced various companies, including their own, for the services on a large scale - but only as a sham. According to the court, they then used the invoices to feign high expenses for hygiene, conversion and training measures in order to obtain state coronavirus aid.
Despite their convictions for fraudulent activities, these men continued to manage their finances, diverting some of the corona aid funds they received towards purchasing luxury sports cars. This blatant misuse of funds for crime-related purposes highlights the necessity for thorough financial audits and regulations in crisis relief distribution processes.
Source: www.dpa.com
