Selbitz/Hof (dpa/lby) – The mayor of the small town of Selbitz in Upper Franconia, Stefan Busch, has to answer to the court for insufficient remuneration. The Hof district court had issued a penalty order against the head of the town hall. Thereupon Busch (non-partisan voters) lodged an objection. The court confirmed to the German Press Agency on Friday that the hearing should take place on November 10th. The Bayerischer Rundfunk had previously reported.
According to investigations, the city in the west of Hof paid workers at the building yard too little money between November 2017 and April 2019. Specifically, it was therefore a case of insufficient remuneration for winter service according to the provisions of the collective agreement for the public service. As a result, lower contributions to social security were paid – a total of 37,000 euros.
Busch was aware of this unlawful remuneration, the court said. As mayor, he is criminally responsible for ensuring that the city meets its obligations to register and pay social security contributions. The penalty order was therefore a fine of an undisclosed amount “for withholding and embezzlement of wages in 24 cases”. Busch himself did not want to comment on a dpa request.
Just last week, the public prosecutor’s office in Hof announced that a penalty order of 24,000 euros had been issued against Bamberg’s mayor Andreas Starke (SPD). He is said to have embezzled city funds. According to the city of Bamberg on Friday, it was still unclear whether Starke would appeal.
