The Bamberg Regional Court sentenced the former manager of the Bamberg public prosecutor’s office to a suspended prison sentence of 15 months for numerous cases of embezzlement, breach of trust and document suppression as well as other crimes. The 59-year-old judicial officer – he headed the public prosecutor’s office for more than 13 years – had flatly admitted the allegations at the start of the trial two weeks ago. Among other things, he admitted to having paid for belongings at the expense of the Bavarian judicial authorities, including a mulled wine cooker.
The public prosecutor’s office had listed the crimes he was accused of on a total of 62 pages. Investigators were able to seize dozens of items in the judicial officer’s private property that he had wrongly kept there. For example, free bonuses that he received from companies for his large orders, including: frying pan, spice rack and kitchen utensil set. The officer had obviously also taken electronic items home with him for private use, such as a desk lamp, a tablet with a screen protector, and a coat rack. He had purchased other things and, according to the results of the investigation, billed them to the judicial treasury: soda maker, cordless screwdriver, quilted vest and that same mulled wine maker.
As a member of the Bavarian judiciary, he had always shown “great commitment and a great sense of duty,” the 59-year-old said in court. However, he suffered from a mental illness, the consequences of which he was unable to “stop”. He did not want to damage the reputation of the judiciary, deeply regrets his behavior and asks for forgiveness. Many of the objects had been recovered from his property in their original packaging, meaning the officer had only actually used a very small proportion of the everyday items. According to the presiding judge, the reduced culpability caused by his illness and the 59-year-old’s comprehensive confession had a mitigating effect on the punishment. The judgment is not final.