With forged documents, the Romanians applied for child benefit in the Cologne area for children who did not really exist and were fictitious. Between April 2013 and August 2020 they stole 733,000 euros. Now six Romanians are sitting in front of the Cologne district court for tax evasion and forgery of documents.
With partly falsified registration certificates to the city of Cologne for their relatives, who in reality still lived in Romania, they are said to have submitted applications for child benefit to the authorities in Germany. Thereupon the gang collected the funds, according to the indictment in specially opened accounts. When the authorities realized that the families did not even live in Germany, the Romanians simply submitted new applications for other relatives. The defendants were silent in front of the judge. The process continues.
