They stand accused of selling expensive lenses to their clients, but instead ordered cheaper ones and pocketed the difference.
2600 bills were forged in total and there are 2050 wronged parties from all over the country.
It all started with a complaint made by a woman who had noticed irregularities in client's orders: she noticed that they had ordered one thing, but had received another, says the investigator. The woman had worked for one of the now accused companies and had delivered evidence of wrongdoing. After that, the complaint had gone to the prosecutor's office.
The woman originally only grew suspicious because she felt wronged as an associate. She had invested €50,000 into a company that was founded with a mere €12,500, the difference, she says, was put into her associate's pocket. After that, she noticed irregularities with the lenses. In that context, the investigator also suspected that other companies were involved in such activities.
After the complaint, interrogations and extensive searches were carried out. During the interrogations, it soon became clear that each company did the same, worse still: they all found the practice normal. They considered it standard procedure to look for cheaper lenses on the internet after having talked to their clients. They ordered cheaper lenses, but sold them at the price that had been agreed upon with the client. They would usually put the Zeiss catalogue in front of the client and would not even mention a perhaps cheaper alternative, which was in the end ordered anyhow to maximise profits.
The accused, however, vow that the product was not "trash". A comment that was not well received by the judge, who replied that the product was not tailored to the client's needs.
The trial will be conducted in a total of four sessions.
