Karlsruhe / Munich (dpa / lby) – The Regensburg CSU member of parliament Franz Rieger has been convicted of extorting party donations. The Federal Court of Justice rejected Rieger’s revision, as the Karlsruhe court announced on Wednesday. The judgment of the Regional Court of Regensburg from November last year is therefore final. Rieger then immediately announced that he was leaving the CSU parliamentary group in the state parliament – but he still thought the verdict was wrong. However, he intends to continue exercising his MP mandate until the end of the legislative period.
The court considered it proven that in 2013 Rieger had asked the board of directors of a real estate company operating in Regensburg, among other places, for donations of 50,000 euros to the party. When he declined, the CSU politician told him that the party had great influence on Regensburg’s construction policy, including the designation of building areas and the granting of building permits. The entrepreneur then promised the donations and made payments, as the BGH further announced.
