BMF list of bogus companies

Under the Social Fraud Prevention Act, the Federal Ministry of Finance is required by law to publish a list of legally established sham companies on the Internet. This publication serves as a source of information for companies and is intended to protect them from possible liability for charges.

According to Section 9 of the Social Fraud Prevention Act (Sozialbetrugsbekämpfungsgesetz – SBBG), the ordering company is liable as guarantor and payer from the time it is legally established that the contracted company is a sham company – this is in any case the case if the ordering company knew or should have known at the time the contract was awarded that the contractor was a sham company pursuant to Section 8 of the SBBG.

The contracting company is then liable for claims to the statutory remuneration, the remuneration stipulated by regulation or the remuneration stipulated by collective agreement for work performed in the context of the commissioning of the workers employed by the sham company.