Austrian respirator manufacturer FFP2 is being investigated for fraud

The Austrian company, which produces more than 12 million FFP2 respirators per month, is being investigated on suspicion of repackaging Chinese respirators and labeling them as Austrian products. The Austrian prosecutor's office announced this on Wednesday, the AFP agency informed. Hygiene Austria increased respirator production capacity to 350,000 per day when the government of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz introduced the mandatory use of FFP2 masks in public transport, schools and shops in January. An anti-corruption prosecutor's office raided two sites on Tuesday after an investigation into illegal recruitment practices found that "FFP2 respirators made abroad were repackaged at one of the company's locations in Austria and subsequently sold at a higher price than respirators made in Austria. ", is stated in the statement. The CEO of Hygiene Austria, which was founded in April 2020, is the brother-in-law of the head of the Kurz office. During the inauguration of the production plant in April, Kurz thanked Hygiene Austria for its contribution to the independence of a small nation of nine million from foreign mask manufacturers. The company has already supplied millions of respirators to Austria's largest food retail chains and announced that it has hired another 100 employees for the operation. Investigators suspect that the company did not register many workers for social security and therefore employed them illegally. Hygiene Austria "strongly denied" the allegations in a statement sent to the Austrian media. On Wednesday, opposition MPs asked for details on the procurement process. The chains are currently investigating whether it is necessary to withdraw the sold masks, the Austrian media inform. The exchange rate is already under pressure, as an anti-corruption investigation into allegedly illegal donations to his conservative party from the Novomatic gambling company resulted in a raid on his finance minister's house in February.