Did Heiko S. use prostitutes for subsidy fraud?
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Hanover: Did Heiko S. use prostitutes to swindle Corona emergency aid?
Hanover. The trade of love for sale has suffered badly during the Corona pandemic. And it is precisely this fact that Heiko S. (51) is said to have used for fraudulent activities. According to his own statement, he is a “management consultant”, but is currently living on Hartz IV.
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On Monday, the small, stocky man faced subsidy fraud in a serious case before the lay judges in Hanover. According to the indictment, he applied for emergency corona aid in five cases. He is said to have used the names and dates of women in the horizontal trade. In this way he pocketed 45,000 euros.
Subsidy for company that no longer exists
The applications are dated May 31, 2020. In the fall, the accused also used his company as a subsidy recipient, according to a file. A company that understood “commercial room rental”. Reason for the application to the N-Förderbank: The women could not do their jobs because of the pandemic and therefore could not pay rent. However, the company ceased operations in 2019.
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“My client relies on his right to remain silent,” said lawyer Marco Neumann. A witness (26) testified: “I had no idea that he applied for my name.” She wrote a license as a “masseuse in the erotic field”, but never as a prostitute. Two years ago they received Hartz IV. That’s why she didn’t apply for a subsidy because she had warned friends about it. And this was also communicated to the accused.
The defendant’s lawyer managed to shake the credibility of the witness. He wanted to know whether she had ever written as a prostitute in Switzerland. “No, I don’t understand the question,” the witness reacted impatiently. The next question is who told her that Hartz IV recipients would not apply for emergency aid. The 26-year-old replied angrily: “I’m not answering anything anymore.” When asked by judge Lars Stanul, she then named the name of a prostitute.
Defendant is on probation
No other witnesses appeared at the trial. An agreement between the parties failed. Neumann wanted a suspended sentence. The prosecutor saw no room for it. Heiko S. is already on probation for fraud. The judge noted that the jury did not stand as to a sentence.
Since the other parties could not agree on a requested hearing date, the procedure burst. New start on November 21st.
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In the Hanover public prosecutor’s office alone, the Lower Saxony Ministry of Justice recorded almost 670 investigations into suspected misuse of emergency and bridging aid by the end of 2021. There were 1,774 preliminary investigations nationwide.
In 268 cases, the investigating authority brought charges or applied for penal orders, including written decisions without negotiations. “In 190 cases, these procedures have been legally concluded,” said Hans-Christian Rümke, spokesman for the Ministry of Justice, in February 2022. The damage in the Hanover area alone has amounted to 3.8 million euros so far.
By Thomas Nagel