Where does the money come from? Almost 35,000 euros, in cash? This question is at the center of the investigation against AfD member of the Bundestag Petr Bystron, and it is also the reason for searches in the politician’s Bundestag office on Thursday. There have been many questions about MP Bystron since the end of March. Since then, there have been suspicions that number two on the AfD candidate list for the European elections in June could be part of a Russian influence operation.
Now the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office is apparently investigating suspicious money flows – cash transfers that investigators believe may have started in Russia. They are investigating the MP on suspicion of money laundering and bribery. According to information from South German newspaper for a total of almost 35,000 euros. In mid-March, Bystron is said to have paid this into a bank account of Lendvay GmbH at Targo Bank, three days apart, in a smaller and a larger tranche Mirror had reported.
A sum of money is said to have been deposited in cash and withdrawn on the same day
With the second deposit, Bystron apparently triggered a report to the bank regarding suspected money laundering, as is the case with cash deposits of more than 10,000 euros. After the second deposit, Bystron is said to have withdrawn the money in 200 euro notes on the same day in March.
Coincidence or not – according to one MirrorAccording to the report, the Czech secret service BIS assumes that Bystron met shortly before, in mid-February, in Prague with the businessman Artem Marchevskyi, who, according to Western investigators, is the head of the Russian propaganda portal Voice of Europewhich the EU blocked along with three other Russian media outlets on Friday. Voice of Europe is said to have been the instrument for the alleged influence operation from Moscow. At the meeting in February, the BIS is said to have documented Bystron and Martschewskyi driving together. The secret service is said to have audio recordings of Bystron getting money in the car and counting it. Bystron has denied accepting any money.
According to information from security circles, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution has still not received the original recordings from the Czech colleagues, but has at least received a written analysis of the material. However, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution was not allowed to pass this on to the public prosecutors in Munich without the consent of the Czechs.
The allegations are “far-fetched,” says Bystron
They therefore follow their own path. In any case, the investigators have so far no conclusive indication as to which unsuspicious source the almost 35,000 euros that Bystron is said to have paid into his business account and withdrew directly again could have come from.
The South German newspaper Bystron said he simply wanted to exchange cash that he had in reserve into larger bills. In a video on Telegram on Thursday, he said that the prosecutor’s allegations were “far-fetched.” He had already confirmed meetings with the businessman Martschewskyi weeks ago, cash handovers from the area around Voice of Europe but denied. Federal spokespersons for the AfD Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla have asked Bystron to refrain from further appearances in the European election campaign until the allegations have been clarified, ZDF reported on Friday evening.
On Thursday, the immunity of Bystron’s parliamentary group colleague Hannes Gnauck was also lifted. According to his own statements, it is about disciplinary proceedings from his time as an active Bundeswehr soldier. In 2021 it became known that the Military Counterintelligence Service had classified Gnauck as an extremist. For two years, the Bundeswehr conducted preliminary investigations leading to judicial disciplinary proceedings, as the current federal chairman of the AfD youth organization Junge Alternative himself once said. However, things didn’t get any further. In 2021, Gnauck was elected to the Bundestag and left the force before he could have been removed. Gnauck did not initially respond to a request.