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my GF & I have discovered recently that our flatmate had made a false police report in Germany while she visited her partner there.

In her report she told the police that her bag was stolen while in actual fact she sent it back to us in Italy by DHL (Received yesterday), so that she could lie to her partner to stay with her longer.

We received the package today and since we do not want to be involved in any police related matter, can anyone advice the consequences and if it is serious, we would prefer to call the police and explain.

We have all the proof that showed the sender was our flatmate herself.

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    Right now you have suspicions, not facts.Your flatmate may or may not have committed a crime in Germany. Falsely reporting a crime to the police is an offense, but you do not know what exactly she reported to the police (or if she lied about making the report, too). You are currently in Italy and so now you have some information which suggests that there may have been a minor offense abroad. First, take a deep breath.Tell the truth if there is any police inquiry.
    – o.m.
    Commented Dec 20, 2020 at 19:08

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Making a false police report could fall under Sec. 145d of the German Criminal Law Code (§ 145d StGB, Vortäuschen einer Straftat, "Misleading authorities about commission of offence"). As such, they could face a prison sentence of up to three years or a fine, the latter being much more likely for such a small offence, especially if they have not been in legal trouble before. I doubt any court would sentence them to more than 90 Tagessätze (day fines).

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  • It would very much depend on the circumstances. "My handbag was stolen" -> harmless. "My handbag was stolen" + getting money from your insurance -> fraud. "I saw Joe Smith stealing my handbag. I recognised him 100% and it was definitely my handbag" -> big trouble.
    – gnasher729
    Commented Aug 13, 2021 at 7:42
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    @gnasher729 Nope, not harmless if they do report it. Even if you don't point out a culprit, filing a report about a crime that you know for a fact has not been commitet is a crime, and not "harmless". Please be aware that the question was about German law.
    – Robb
    Commented Aug 13, 2021 at 8:02
  • Obviously harmless to the other alternatives. Like stealing €5 is harmless compared to stealing €5,000,000. And yes, I was aware this was about German law. What damaged you caused or tried to cause would be considered by the court.
    – gnasher729
    Commented Aug 13, 2021 at 9:18
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    @gnasher729 Obviously, but the damage in question is not related to the material value of the handbag, for instance. It is the wasted time and money of the investigating authorities.
    – Robb
    Commented Aug 13, 2021 at 9:56

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