Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – The “lateral thinking” initiator Michael Ballweg remains in custody. A spokeswoman said on Monday that the Higher Regional Court in Stuttgart had issued a new arrest warrant that was adapted to the current facts and evidence. According to the current status of the investigation, the criminal senate strongly suspects the accused of attempted commercial fraud and money laundering. Otherwise, the complaint was dismissed as unfounded.
The arrest warrant of the 1st Criminal Senate replaces that of the Stuttgart district court, the spokeswoman said. This had previously been based on fraud. A spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office could not say how long the investigations will continue overall. Some time ago, the district court in Stuttgart had already rejected a complaint against detention.
Ballweg has been in custody since June 29 because of the risk of absconding. According to the authorities, a search at the end of June revealed concrete evidence that Ballweg wanted to sell his assets abroad. According to information from judicial circles at the time, there was a suspicion of fraud in the amount of around 640,000 euros and money laundering in the amount of around 430,000 euros.
