The police arrive in the Aschaffenburg area for a raid. Suspected are members of the Aschaffenburg city council. The focus is on votes from years ago – and possible cash flows. There are also searches in Hesse.
Aschaffenburg (dpa / lhe) – Because of the suspicion of bribery and corruption of elected officials, the police searched seven objects in and around Aschaffenburg and in neighboring Hesse. “It’s about securing evidence,” said a spokesman for the Munich public prosecutor’s office on Tuesday. Four people are suspect, who are being investigated in connection with votes in the Aschaffenburg city council in 2015 and 2019.
The spokesman for the attorney general’s office did not want to say whether the suspects are all still on the city council or were at all. “Further information can not be given due to the ongoing investigations,” said the authority. According to information from the German Press Agency, SPD mandate holders should also be affected by the events. According to dpa information, suspects are said to have been bribed with money, among other things.
The Aschaffenburg city council consists of the mayor and 44 city council members, 12 of whom belong to the SPD parliamentary group. At first, no one could be reached at the SPD city association for comment. The state SPD in Munich referred to those responsible on site. Aschaffenburg’s Mayor Jürgen Herzing (SPD) initially did not want to comment on the events. “We expressly point out that the presumption of innocence in the criminal investigation continues to apply,” the city said in a statement.
In addition, it was initially unclear what the city council votes were about. The spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office did not want to confirm or deny that it could be about processes related to construction projects.
According to the information, there were no arrest warrants for the accused. “There is no evidence of a reason for detention such as a risk of absconding,” he said. It was initially unknown what the police officers found during their searches. Among other things, they were looking for means of communication such as mobile phones.
According to the General Prosecutor’s Office, paragraph 108e of the Criminal Code is an option: corruption and bribery of elected officials. Accordingly, such offenses can be punished with imprisonment of between one and ten years, and in less serious cases with imprisonment of between six months and five years.
