The customs department deployed around 170 officers to carry out a major raid on the company Quality Group GmbH in Schleswig-Holstein, which is behind the hyped nutritional supplement brand More Nutrition. The company recently came into the public eye through critical reporting in Jan Böhmermann’s program “ZDF Magazin Royale”.
According to the Itzehoe main customs office, investigators searched two of the company’s locations in Kaltenkirchen and Elmshorn near Hamburg on Wednesday night. Emergency services from the federal police and the immigration authorities were also involved. “The operation was triggered by an anonymous tip about 30 people suspected of being illegally employed in the logistics area of this company, which could not be eliminated through a prior examination of business documents,” explained a spokesman for the main customs office.
According to the information, a total of 344 employees were checked. “84 people are suspected of working without a residence permit and without a valid work permit,” the spokesman continued. “In addition, there was extensive evidence of employees not being properly registered for social security and violations of the payment of the minimum wage.” Criminal proceedings have been initiated against those responsible.
Four employees who were wanted were arrested. They are said to have not paid fines. Two of the people checked are said to have used fake IDs during the check – they are now being investigated for forgery of documents.
The Quality Group confirmed the raid on its premises to the “Hamburger Abendblatt”, but denied any guilt. “Last evening, customs checked the work permits of employees and employees of external temporary employment agencies at two locations. These are routine checks that the authorities carry out unannounced at irregular intervals. Of course, as employers, we comply with all of them guidelines and support the authorities in their work,” the company said on Wednesday to the newspaper that first reported on the case. The Quality Group could not be reached by telephone on Thursday afternoon.
According to customs, the operation was one of “the largest audit measures by the financial control for undeclared work at the Itzehoe main customs office in 2023”.
The Quality Group and More Nutrition were the subject of “ZDF Magazin Royale” with Jan Böhmermann on November 10th as well as the research program “STRG_F” from Norddeutscher Rundfunk. Among other things, the contributions questioned the effectiveness of the nutritional supplement products and denounced the aggressive and presumably partly illegal influencer marketing strategy (stern reported). According to the research, the company has repeatedly tried to evade official controls by moving its headquarters.
Sources: Main Customs Office Itzehoe, “Hamburger Abendblatt”, “ZDF Magazin Royale”, “STRG_F”
