On February 2, 2023, Volker Tretzel was sentenced because he wanted to buy the favor of the mayor of Regensburg. Now he is dissatisfied with the verdict, although he had previously negotiated a deal.
From
Lisa Schnell, Munich
The Regensburg corruption scandal will go through another round in court. Building contractor Volker Tretzel, who has just been convicted by the Munich I Regional Court for granting advantages and violating the party law, is appealing. So it reports Central Bavarian newspaper. The proceedings against Tretzel in Munich were already revision proceedings, now the question is whether there will be another one. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) must examine the judgment for errors of law. For Tretzel, it provides for a suspended sentence of one year and six months and a fine of 1.5 million euros.
Tretzel had previously confessed for the first time since the Regensburg corruption allegations began in 2016. He admitted to having supported the then Mayor of Regensburg, Joachim Wolbergs (then SPD), for years through a straw man system with party donations. He wanted to secure “a certain amount of goodwill” from the mayor. He thus redeemed his end of an agreement with the prosecutor and the court, which stipulated that if he confessed, he would be sentenced to a maximum of one year and nine months and would have to pay a maximum fine of 1.5 million euros. The court exhausted this framework almost completely.
His sentence was much milder in the first trial in Regensburg in 2019. At that time he was also convicted of granting advantages, but only received ten months’ probation. The then mayor of Wolberg was also convicted of accepting an advantage, but he did not receive a penalty. After the BGH criticized the verdict as too mild and overturned it, the processes were split: Wolbergs now expects its own process in Munich. He described the trial against Tretzel as a “farce”. He was surprised that he was not called as a witness. His perspective played no role for the court. When the revision process against him starts in Munich, he will have the opportunity to present his views.