The Berlin public prosecutor’s office has now completed almost 1000 criminal proceedings against repayers of Corona aid. This emerges from a response from the economic administration to a parliamentary question from FDP parliamentary group leader Sebastian Czaja.
Of the total of 949 proceedings, 909 had to be discontinued because either insufficient suspicion could be found (852 cases) or the offense was found to be insignificant (57 proceedings).
No criminal offense was found in 16 proceedings; one was dropped because of death. Criminal orders were issued in only eleven cases, albeit without imprisonment, and in one case a fine was issued.
The main political dispute was about the prosecution of people who – consciously or unconsciously – had incorrectly applied for payments from the Corona aid fund, but later repaid them. That is now more than 35,000 people, as the economic administration explains at Czaja’s request.
The Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB) recorded repayments of 256 million euros by the beginning of August. A total of 4.8 billion euros has been paid out to more than 355,000 people since the beginning of the pandemic.
Apparently people were punished in only a few cases
More than 5000 of the people who repaid the money later received letters from the Berlin State Criminal Police Office, in which they were informed about criminal proceedings that had been initiated for computer fraud or subsidy fraud. On the basis of a request for information from the public prosecutor’s office, the IBB then transmitted the data of 2050 applications. The numbers of completed criminal proceedings now show that apparently in very few cases people have also been punished.
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FDP parliamentary group leader Sebastian Czaja said to the Tagesspiegel: “It was right and important to pay out the emergency aid quickly and unbureaucratically.” He demanded that the IBB should also find solutions for all those who “mistakenly paid back the money, even though it was you State”.
The FDP politician went on to say: “In the end, those who want to do everything right, but are desperate about the miserable information policy of the red-red-green Senate, must not suffer.”
Dispute between the Senate and the Public Prosecutor’s Office
In June, the proceedings against the repayers of Corona aid led to a dispute between members of the Berlin Senate and the public prosecutor’s office.
Economics Senator Ramona Pop (Greens) said at the time that the investigators were prosecuting the self-employed and small business owners, even though they had repaid unjustifiably received aid money. “I am particularly annoyed by this approach by the public prosecutor.”
Senator for culture Klaus Lederer (left) also let his anger run free over the procedure. “What is actually going on with the public prosecutor’s office that these public resources are used to conduct these proceedings?” The proceedings are used to set “a bureaucratic avalanche in motion” and trigger “fear and horror” among those affected. He thinks “a little more respect for the overall situation” on the part of the investigators is appropriate.
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The Berlin judiciary fought against the political interference of the Senate level with a fire letter. The chief judges ‘and chief prosecutors’ council assessed their criticism as a frontal attack on the foundations of the rule of law and inadmissible interference by politics.
“The fact that members of the Senate are not familiar with the basic pillars of the rule of law, especially if they are a political scientist or fully qualified lawyer, is simply frightening,” says the committee’s letter. “We do not live in a system where politicians can decide at their own discretion who is confronted with public prosecutorial investigations or not. And that’s just as well.”
Only in Berlin were there so many criminal proceedings against repayers
The public prosecutor himself had stated that there was “no possibility of an exemption from punishment” in the event of fraud. Fraud is a so-called official offense – such a crime must be investigated ex officio. But then it does not have to be charged.
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The investigation could also be stopped, for example if it turns out that the fraud was not committed with intent. The quick repayment also has a relieving effect. Justice Senator Dirk Behrendt (Greens) had to clarify this again in the House of Representatives at the request of the opposition.
Nationwide, almost one billion euros in corona aid have now been paid back voluntarily. But only in Berlin were there so many criminal proceedings against repayers.
As early as June, Veronika Mirschel, head of the self-employed department at the Federal Association of the Verdi Service Union, said: “In Berlin it seems like a concerted action. In other federal states these are only isolated cases. “
Andreas Lutz, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Founders and Self-Employed Germany (VGSD), said that this type of procedure was “complete madness” and was “pillorying honest people”. The figures from Sebastian Czaja’s inquiry show at least that a few sinners were caught by the procedure.
