The German collection society GEMA has apparently been affected by a heavy case of fraud.
The Munich-based society confirmed the fraud inquiry to Billboard.biz today (May 27). Two of its employees have already been suspended pending an investigation. There is a supposition that GEMA members are involved.
GEMA announced that it will report an offense to the prosecution office on Friday (May 28) in Berlin. As GEMA confirmed, it’s a potentially complicated case involving considerable amounts of money. Insiders are talking of a fraud of more than €1 million ($1.24 million).
On Friday, GEMA’s CEO, Dr. Harald Heker will give a press-conference about the background and the circumstances.
In Germany, GEMA represents the copyrights of more than 60,000 members (composers, lyricists, and music publishers), and GEMA also represents over 1 million copyright owners all over the world. Worldwide, it is one of the largest societies for authors of music works.
