The Munich public prosecutor’s office has closed the investigation into corruption against a city councilor in Aschaffenburg. As of December 2022, investigators had a total seven properties in and around Aschaffenburg and in neighboring Hesse. According to a message from Aschaffenburg’s Lord Mayor Jürgen Herzing (SPD) to the city council members, the initial suspicion was directed at a total of four suspects – one of them “from the city council”. This was suspected of bribery, the other suspects from the construction industry of bribing elected officials. An SPD city councilor was then targeted by the media.
The investigators investigated the suspicion of whether the voting behavior of the suspected city councilor had been influenced with the acquisition of two properties in Aschaffenburg with disguised bribes. The city of Aschaffenburg had had a first access option for the purchase of the land, but waived this. The investigations started after the tax office found suspicious interest payments on loan agreements at a property developer. According to the senior public prosecutor Klaus Ruhland, there was a suspicion that the city council should have worked in the city hall to ensure that the city refrained from acquiring the land.
However, no “unlawful agreement” was found between the private property development company and the city council during the investigation. According to the results of the investigation, the decision on the waiver of the property was made “at the administrative level” in the town hall. The Attorney General then dropped the case.