GERMANY INVESTIGATES COVID TESTING FRAUD
German authorities are investigating allegations of fraud involving the massive rollout of free coronavirus tests
Germans have to present a negative test result in order to enter non-essential stores, visit restaurants or bars, or attend small-scale cultural events.
The government pays for one free test per person each week, which has led to a proliferation of more than 15,000 businesses offering antigen tests that provide results within 20 minutes.
“There is the suspicion, a very well-founded suspicion after everything I’ve seen, that there’s also been fraud,” Jens Spahn, the country’s health minister, said Tuesday.
“There need to be criminal consequences,” he added, noting that prosecutors are investigating the allegations.
The issue has once again raised questions of who is accounting for the German government’s spending splurge in response to the pandemic.
