exclusive
According to research by WDR, NDR and SZ, the security authorities are investigating the suspicion of whether the AfD politician Krah received secret service money from China. The focus is on his employee Jian G., who is already in custody.
New details have emerged in the affair surrounding a suspected Chinese spy in the office of the AfD’s top candidate for the European elections, Maximilian Krah. The focus is on his long-time employee Jian G., who is now in custody on espionage charges.
According to research by WDR, NDR and Süddeutscher Zeitung, security authorities are investigating the suspicion of whether the accused, Jian G., has personally supported Krah, his law firm and his MP’s office over a long period of time with high five-figure sums – and whether this money may have come from the Chinese secret service.
According to previous investigations, part of the money is said to have flowed through suspected fictitious invoices. Both Krah’s office and his former law firm in Dresden are said to have played a role.
Investigators found information from the law firm account WDR, NDR and SZ about 14,000 euros, which were assigned to Gs by different companies. The invoices are said to have been written by an employee of the law firm.
In two cases, Jian G. is said to have previously formulated the invoice text and sent it to Krah and the employee by email. G’s lawyers could not immediately be reached for comment. G. is currently in custody. It is the presumption of innocence.
Jian G. apparently monitored for more than a year
The security authorities apparently also gained their knowledge by monitoring Jian G. and his communications for more than a year. According to the authorities’ knowledge, G., who comes from China and is now a German citizen, is said to have stated that he has been working for a Chinese intelligence service for 20 years. Jian G. is also said to have claimed in monitored communications that he had initiated payments totaling more than 50,000 euros to Krah.
Krah’s lawyer thinks this is incomprehensible. In the case of “properly issued office invoices” it can be assumed “that the legal advice services shown therein were actually provided.”
Krah is not listed as a defendant
The investigators also suspect that not Jian G.’s private money, but rather money from secret service sources in China may have flowed to Krah. Krah is not listed as a defendant in the Federal Prosecutor General’s proceedings against Jian G., but as a witness.
In the investigation against Jian G., fictitious invoices totaling 10,000 euros for Krah’s office, which a contact person had already submitted, are said to have played a role. This could mean Krah’s parliamentary office.
Krah’s lawyer believes this to be inconclusive, as all invoices are closely monitored and checked by the parliamentary group. Overall, Krah is not yet aware of such allegations. The investigating authorities also did not question his client about such matters.
Investigators are based on information from WDR, NDR and SZ also suspect that G. may have used several companies in China and Germany to conceal money flows and that money from Chinese services may have flowed into these companies.
Arrest warrant against Jian G.
Jian G. was initially provisionally arrested on April 24th by officers from the Saxony State Criminal Police Office (LKA). Due to media inquiries to G., the authorities are said to have feared that the Krah employee could possibly go abroad and therefore decided to arrest him. Shortly afterwards, an investigating judge in Karlsruhe issued an arrest warrant against G.
The Federal Prosecutor General accuses Jian G. of being an employee of a Chinese secret service. He is suspected of having repeatedly passed on information about negotiations and decisions in the European Parliament to his intelligence client in January 2024. He is also accused of spying on Chinese opposition members in Germany for the intelligence service.
Upon request, the Dresden Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that preliminary investigations are still being conducted against Krah – parallel to the GBA proceedings against his employee. There is a suspicion that the MEP may have received money from China.
Influence from Russia?
On April 18, the public prosecutor’s office had already initiated another preliminary investigation against Krah in connection with alleged Russian payments involving the Czech portal “Voice of Europe” and its alleged financier, the oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, who is close to Putin.
Several European politicians are suspected of receiving payments through this network. The security authorities assume a Russian influence construct, which was sanctioned by the EU this week.