In the corruption trial against the former mayor, Peter Feldmann, the public prosecutor considers him guilty of accepting an advantage. He is said to have ensured that his girlfriend at the time was employed as a day-care center manager at a salary above the standard pay scale.
In the corruption trial against the mayor of Frankfurt am Main, Peter Feldmann, who has since been voted out, the public prosecutor’s office has demanded a fine. In her plea, she spoke to the Frankfurt district court in favor of ordering Feldmann to pay 31,500 euros for accepting an advantage. The background to the process is an affair about excessive salaries and allegations of fraud at the Arbeiterwohlfahrt (AWO).
Prosecutor Johannes Schmidt saw the allegations of the prosecution confirmed. Accordingly, Feldmann’s former partner and later wife received too much money and a company car as the head of a daycare center. The employment relationship is said to have been closed from 2014 due to his position as mayor. Feldmann’s statement that he knew nothing about the promise of employment and the specific conditions of his future wife’s employment contract was “unrealistic,” Schmidt found.
In the 2018 election campaign, the Frankfurt AWO is said to have supported Feldmann by raising donations. In return, Feldmann is said to have tacitly agreed with those responsible for the district association at the time that the interests of the Frankfurt AWO should be “benevolently” taken into account when he held office. There was therefore a tacit unlawful agreement between Feldmann and AWO.
According to Schmidt, there are “numerous indications” for this. So there was no objective reason for hiring Feldmann’s partner at the time as a daycare manager. At the time of the commitment, she was a student with no professional experience. The works council was bypassed when the employee was hired. In addition, she had previously received a bogus mini job at AWO Wiesbaden.
Finally, Schmidt cited messages between the then AWO management and Feldmann, in which the politician had been asked to support the organization. Before he was elected mayor, Feldmann worked for the AWO. The management at the time was dissatisfied with his work, said Schmidt. Nevertheless, those responsible for AWO at the time agreed to a return agreement if Feldmann had failed in the election.
“It makes no sense to give an employee who has done a poor job an option to return,” said Schmidt. The fact that he got it anyway suggests that it was about his future leadership. With the return agreement, the promise of employment for his partner at the time and the campaign support, Feldmann received three advantages.
Feldmann’s defense, on the other hand, saw their client’s innocence confirmed and requested an acquittal. The taking of evidence showed that there were “a large number of serious abuses at the AWO,” said Christian Graßie. Witnesses painted a “terrifying picture” of the processes within the organization. It cannot be ruled out that Feldmann’s wife at the time would have been employed under the same conditions even if she had not been the mayor’s partner. A verdict is expected to be announced next Wednesday. Feldmann was voted out of office in a referendum in November.
Meanwhile, a car ride by the ex-OB caused a stir. According to a “Bild” report, Feldmann drove his car into a bollard on Opernplatz in Frankfurt. The problem: The square is closed to car traffic, only delivery vehicles are allowed to drive on it. Feldmann told the newspaper about the accident: “I delivered my new book and made a scratch when I turned it over.” However, he did not explain where he wanted to deliver the books. The accident is said to have been filmed by several guests at a nearby restaurant.
In the summer, the SPD politician hit a parked car with his company car and is said to have initially only left a note with his name. The public prosecutor’s office rated such proceedings as “minor” and dropped them a few weeks ago.
