corona
Attempted fraud: “lateral thinking” initiator charged
Ballweg is considered the founder of the so-called lateral thinking movement. photo
© Julian Rettig/dpa
Did Michael Ballweg wrongly solicit donations? The Stuttgart Regional Court must now clarify this question. The Higher Regional Court ordered it to hear the prosecution on this point.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the “lateral thinking” initiator is said to have raised financial donations for the organization amounting to more than one million euros through public appeals from thousands of people, but deceived the donors about the use of the money. Ballweg had denied the allegations. He was released from custody last April.
The Stuttgart regional court had refused to open the main proceedings due to allegations of attempted fraud in 9,450 cases and money laundering in four cases. There is no evidence that the defendant was obliged to keep the funds raised separate from his private assets.
“Querdenken 711” is not an association or legal entity. There is also no sufficient suspicion that the supporters were deceived. The calls did not claim that the money would be used for a specific project. The chamber therefore sees “no suspicion of fraud sufficient to initiate proceedings”.
The public prosecutor’s complaint was successful. The Higher Regional Court explained that the prerequisite for the opening of the main proceedings is that the accused appears to be sufficiently suspicious of a crime. “Unlike a conviction, this does not require the court to be convinced of guilt.”
According to this standard, according to the decision of the Criminal Senate, Ballweg is sufficiently suspected of attempted fraud and the prosecution can also be permitted in this respect. “Currently still open questions, which are reserved for clarification in the taking of evidence as part of the upcoming main hearing, do not stand in the way of the assumption of sufficient suspicion.”
Also accused of tax evasion
The regional court initially only admitted the charges in connection with the accusation of tax evasion. He refers to the allegation that Ballweg had taxable income of over 700,000 euros in 2020 and also earned more than 300,000 euros through a limited liability company – but did not tax this money, the regional court said.
The “lateral thinking” movement formed in Stuttgart in many German cities in the wake of the corona pandemic. The supporters repeatedly demonstrated publicly against the political measures to contain the virus. There were also attacks on police officers and media representatives.