Rostock/Karlsruhe (dpa/mv) – The Federal Court of Justice has overturned the acquittal of the investor in the Hohe Düne marina residence in Rostock, Per Harald Lökkevik, from allegations of subsidy fraud amounting to millions. In Thursday’s judgment, the 1st Criminal Senate of the BGH in Karlsruhe criticized the fact that the Schwerin Regional Court had not made sufficient findings in its decision at the end of 2020 to examine the facts of the subsidy fraud when applying for funding. The BGH referred the case back to the Schwerin District Court for hearing and decision.
The Rostock public prosecutor had accused the Norwegian entrepreneur Lökkevik of illegally dividing the 100 million hotel complex Hohe Düne into two companies in the early 2000s. Smaller projects did not require the EU Commission’s subsidy approval, and he could hope for more grants for two small projects than for one large one. According to the BGH, the total costs were estimated at almost 100 million euros, with subsidies of around 47.5 million euros. According to earlier information from the public prosecutor’s office, this was around 13 million euros too much.
In 2015, the Rostock District Court acquitted Lökkevik of allegations of subsidy fraud. The Federal Court of Justice called by the public prosecutor overturned the verdict in 2017 and ordered a new trial. But the district court in Schwerin also acquitted Lökkevik at the end of 2020, whereupon the public prosecutor once again lodged an objection. (Az 1 StR 439/21).
