The allegations against ex-rocker boss Hanebuth were tough: forming a criminal organization, money laundering, threats, illegal possession of weapons. Now he has been acquitted by a court in Madrid.
Former German rocker boss Frank Hanebuth has been acquitted in Spain in a criminal trial against dozens of alleged Hells Angels members. In addition to the 59-year-old man from Garbsen near Hanover, another twelve defendants were acquitted, the State Court in Madrid announced. 32 people were sentenced to prison terms of up to two years.
The Chamber ruled out the formation of a criminal organization in all cases because it had not been proven that the defendants – as alleged by the public prosecutor – were part of a “criminal enterprise”, emphasized the Audiencia Nacional in its statement. This was published around six and a half months after the conclusion of the day-long oral hearing in February.
Arrested in Mallorca in 2013
Hanebuth, who was president of the Hells Angels Hannover for years, had always protested his innocence. He was arrested along with several other men in a spectacular raid on Mallorca in the summer of 2013.
According to the 2019 indictment, the public prosecutor accused him of forming a criminal organization, money laundering, threats and illegal possession of weapons. Some of his co-defendants were also accused of pimping and drug trafficking, among other things. In Spain, Hanebuth was originally sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Hells Angels led in Mallorca?
The crimes are said to have been committed on Mallorca between 2009 and 2013 – especially on Playa de Palma, the famous “Ballermann”. The public prosecutor’s office had assured that Hanebuth had also led the Hells Angels on the holiday island.
After two years in prison, Hanebuth was released from custody in a high-security prison in Cádiz, southern Spain, in the summer of 2015 on bail of 60,000 euros and under conditions.
He was only allowed to leave the country in 2017 and returned to Germany.