After financial irregularities at the Ingolstadt CSU became known, the public prosecutor’s office initiated an investigation. As the Ingolstadt authorities announced in response to SZ’s request, after media reports about inconsistencies at the CSU carnival ball and other events in the district executive board, they initially conducted preliminary investigations from which “certain suspicions” emerged.
The investigation is still in its early stages. It is aimed at an unknown person; the public prosecutor’s office does not want to provide any further information at the moment. A spokeswoman points to the presumption of innocence and the low hurdles to starting an investigation.
In February, discrepancies in the billing of the Ingolstadt CSU carnival ball in 2023 became public. According to SZ information, there has been a suspicion for a long time that income from ticket sales has disappeared; it is said to be more than 10,000 euros. This was the result of a special audit by the CSU auditors. Accordingly, the amount recorded through ticket sales is far from matching the number of around 2,000 tickets put into circulation, which cost 18 or 42 euros, depending on the category. Instead of a profit, “Schanzer Nacht” in 2023 made a loss of 1,600 euros.
According to SZ information, the auditors complained that the Ingolstadt CSU had wasted party resources and acted uneconomically – in a “blatant manner”. The auditors demanded that the board of the district association should not be exonerated until the discrepancies were clarified.
A group led by Horst Seehofer found no evidence that money had been “stolen or embezzled”
On February 18th, a high-ranking group of current and former CSU officials met in Ingolstadt for a crisis meeting lasting several hours, including Horst Seehofer, former Prime Minister. In the end, the party leaders said in a statement: “Even after thorough examination, there is no concrete indication that money from the CSU district association has been stolen or embezzled.”
They explained the shortfall by saying that “several hundred cards” had been given away, for example to sponsors and helpers. But doubts about this explanation remain because there was no documentation and those involved contradict the idea that large numbers of high-priced tickets were given away. Even after their crisis meeting, the CSU grandees were unable to rule out misuse.
Especially since the Seehofer group subsequently made further questionable events public. For example, the Ingolstadt CSU issued its chairman Stefan Huber two donation receipts for Huber parking two CSU trailers on his property. The district board didn’t know anything about it. According to SZ information, the sum involved was around 6,000 euros. “According to his own information, he has withdrawn the donation receipts,” the CSU elders said in February. “The originals were canceled.” Huber has not yet commented on the events; the party says he is on sick leave. An SZ request remained unanswered.
Huber’s deputy, Christoph Hofmann, said in a dry press statement on Thursday that the public prosecutor’s office had been informed “full support promised.” He also wrote about a “threatening letter” that played a role in the investigation. There will be “no further comment” on the proceedings.
This means that the unrest continues in the district association, which is currently surrounded by opaque power struggles. Most recently, the CSU youngsters from the Junge Union publicly terminated their cooperation with one of their city councilors, and there are also said to be intrigues surrounding the mayoral candidacy in 2026.
The party is still reeling from the bribery scandal involving long-time mayor Alfred Lehmann, who was sentenced to a two-year suspended sentence in 2019. Shortly afterwards, the CSU lost the town hall to the SPD. The CSU had hoped that the communiqué from the Seehofer group in February would have enough weight to ensure calm. But the investigations now initiated by the public prosecutor’s office are unlikely to lower blood pressure.