The Munich I public prosecutor’s office has stopped investigating employees of the Bavarian Ministry of Health after buying expensive and allegedly defective protective masks. The “investigative proceedings against unknown persons” had been discontinued “in the absence of criminal action,” the authority announced on Tuesday.
Several reports had previously been received there against unnamed employees of the Bavarian Ministry of Health (StMGP). They were accused of having bought one million overpriced FFP2 masks for 8.90 euros each from the company Emix in March 2020 and having accepted defective goods. The accusation was of (household) infidelity.
“The allegation of criminal behavior has not been confirmed by the investigation,” said the public prosecutor. The contract with Emnix was concluded at a time when the pandemic situation in Germany had worsened dramatically. “The number of infections rose exponentially, and at the same time there was a serious shortage of protective equipment and especially FFP2 masks in the medical field and in the emergency services,” the authority justifies its decision.
It is therefore understandable that the ministry – as well as federal and other federal authorities – endeavored to procure protective equipment very quickly in this situation – “and assessed immediate action, also by means of direct awards, as urgently required in order to improve the supply situation in the health system stabilize and avert danger to life and limb “.
The high purchase price agreed with Emix was the result of a very high global demand for FFP2 masks and a very limited supply. At that time, the ministry also had no alternative offer from another provider. The conclusion of the contract is therefore “not in breach of duty”.
“The over-budget expenditures were covered by budget law and were subsequently approved by the Bavarian state parliament,” emphasized the authority, which also sees no violation of public procurement law. In addition, no defects were found in the protective equipment supplied and paid for. “There is no evidence of any other criminal offense.”
Further proceedings are currently ongoing in Bavaria relating to business with protective masks in the corona pandemic. The most prominent cases are payments to the former Bavarian Justice Minister and member of the state parliament Alfred Sauter (CSU) and the member of the Bundestag Georg Nüßlein, who has since left the CSU.
The public prosecutor’s office is investigating both and six other accused, among other things, because of the initial suspicion of bribery and bribery of elected officials. An investigative committee planned by the opposition parties Greens, SPD and FDP in the state parliament is to bring further clarification in the affair.
Sauter and Nüßlein reject all allegations of corruption. Payments for mask business had no connection to their parliamentary activities, they emphasize. The investigators had seized material in several searches and also frozen assets that could possibly be confiscated as part of a possible process. Several suspects, including Nüßlein, have appealed against this property arrest. A decision by the Munich Higher Regional Court has not yet been made, said a spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office.
So far, there is also no information on how long the criminal investigation can take. Another case involves the purchase of ten million unsuitable surgical masks with allegedly falsified quality confirmation by the State Office for Health and Food Safety from two entrepreneurs from the Upper Palatinate. One of the two is a local politician for the Free Voters. Both entrepreneurs came into custody. Economy Minister Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters) also came into the spotlight in this case after Aiwanger himself had made public that one of the two suspects had turned to him for help.