Surprising statistics: This canton was the canton most deceived in Covid loans

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Almost one in four Swiss companies applied for a Corona loan from the state in spring 2020. The Swiss government provided financial support of a total of 16.9 billion francs to companies in difficulty during the Covid crisis.

The uncomplicated delivery of emergency loans was appealing. It was clear from the beginning that the loans would not be fully repaid. The federal government expects to be left with a loss of up to 1.7 billion francs. What is even sadder is that part of the losses (currently 374 million francs, but this figure may increase) were due to fraud.

Seco statistics available to “NZZ am Sonntag” now show which cantons are most deceived.

Appenzell Ausserrhoden fails, Jura is on top

Appenzell Ausserrhoden takes the top spot. Abuse was detected in 3.89 percent of all Covid loans. In the canton of all places that made headlines for its rejection of Covid measures.

The other top spots are followed by Basel-Stadt, Aargau, Zug and Nidwalden, in this order. At the other end of the scale is the canton of Jura, which won the honesty prize with just 0.49 percent of cases of abusive Covid loans. The cantons of Neuchâtel, Schaffhausen, Valais and Ticino also have very low rates of abuse, below 1 percent.

As of June 2023, 0.3 percent of all loans granted were found guilty of fraud. But Seco now expects a much larger share. Within a year the amount of fraud increased by approximately 100 million francs. Experts assume that new cases of fraud will emerge by 2025. In this case, the total could exceed the threshold of half a billion francs or be around 3 percent.

Fraud in other areas too

The damage caused by fraud is already around half a billion francs today when you look at all the aid from the Corona state. There were also irregularities in short-time working compensation. According to “NZZ am Sonntag”, Seco, with the help of external auditors, has so far detected fraud worth a total of 123.7 million francs.

Widespread abuse is also suspected at Covid testing centres. The federal government covered the 2.7 billion franc cost of more than 23 million Covid tests between 2020 and 2022. There has been a proliferation of private testing centers from time to time. It is known that some invoices are sent to health insurance companies twice or are completely fictional. The Federal Office for Public Health has intensified its investigation into these complaints in recent months and has already filed a criminal complaint, demanding the return of 19 million francs. (rae)

Source :Blick