Berlin – It is Berlin’s largest procedure to date for incorrectly billed corona tests: Kemal C. (46, Späti operator) from Wedding cheated the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians by 9.7 million euros. The final bill from the district court on Tuesday: eight years and nine months in prison for commercial, particularly serious fraud.
The judge: “He unscrupulously took advantage of a pandemic emergency of national importance … used straw people, concealed cash flows …”
His sister Gülbeyaz W. (44) received a suspended sentence of 1 year and 9 months for being an aid.
At that time, the Späti operator had eighteen (!) test centers under his control: from Moabit and Prenzlauer Berg to Pankow, Spandau, all the way to Wedding and Steglitz. Only two of which went under his name. The others to disguise under other names. Judge Carsten Schwanitz: “But all under his direction.”
Kemal C. and his sister raked in millions with test centers like this one (icon picture).
With which he made good money. For tests that largely did not take place. The judge calculated the example of just one center: With the number he gave, two swabs per minute should have been made there in 19 consecutive hours (without a break). “Witnesses in court hadn’t reported anything about the formation of queues.” Instead of the cheated millions, he would have “only been entitled to 63,000 euros”.
Duplicate bills were not noticed
For the allegation that the money was lying on the street at the time, you just had to collect it, the accused received massive criticism from the court: “Every day up to 1000 people died of Corona. Action by the state was required – quickly and unbureaucratically.” The medical staff was overwhelmed. With the many test centers that had popped up out of the ground, the KV was in a way overwhelmed.
It was also not noticed that some of the locations specified by the accused “did not even appear to be a test center”. That he sometimes billed some test centers twice. “He wanted to collect as much as possible.”
The court was satisfied “… that he acted alone, that he made all the requests and collected the funds.” Included in his overall sentence, the court included a 2022 conviction for rape and assault.
The defendant’s sister supported him: “By approving that he opened test centers under her name … provided him with accounts … went to the bank with him if the payment amount was too high.” She is subject to 2.4 million Euro of the confiscation, with the accused the 9.7 million Euro.
In Berlin alone, according to the Senate, 1,656 commercial test sites were approved in the city at peak times (June 8, 2021). And these were actually hardly checked at first. It was only when there were increasing suspicions of fraud that there were random checks and stricter requirements.
