Frankfurt/Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) – In the Awo affair, charges were brought against a Wiesbaden local politician. The Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office announced on Friday that the 40-year-old was accused of aiding and abetting infidelity in a particularly serious case. As a former city councillor, he is said to have agreed in April 2015 with the then head of Wiesbaden workers’ welfare (Awo) that the association would pay him a salary without him having to work for it. In return, the Awo boss expected that the man, who also currently holds a political office in the state capital, would “benevolently consider” the interests of the Awo. The man has not yet commented on the allegations when asked by dpa.
Overall, according to the Attorney General’s Office, there were two employment relationships. In one of them, the accused is said to have performed “not nearly the owed work performance of 30 hours a week” for around two years as a consultant to the management of the district association. The district association suffered more than 100,000 euros in damage. In addition, it was about a purely bogus employment relationship as an alleged supervisor in an old people’s care center. The man received around 9,400 euros, the employer suffered damage of around 12,000.
However, there was no indication that the monthly payments had influenced the man’s voting behavior as a city councilor, the Attorney General said. A spokesman added that this was very difficult to prove.
The trial is to take place at the Wiesbaden district court, which still has to decide whether to open the main trial. In addition, it will be determined whether the accused will also be charged with breaching official secrecy, the Attorney General said.
