Feldman
Frankfurt ex-mayor sentenced in corruption trial
The voted-out Frankfurt Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann (SPD) has been found guilty in the corruption trial. photo
© Sebastian Gollnow/dpa POOL/dpa
At the center of the proceedings was an overpaid job for the girlfriend and donations for re-election. Now a verdict has been announced in the trial against the former Frankfurt mayor.
The voted-out Frankfurt Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann (SPD) has been sentenced to a fine in the corruption trial before the regional court. Feldmann has to pay 120 daily rates of 175 euros in two cases for taking advantage, as the Frankfurt Regional Court announced on Friday. He also has to pay compensation for the value of almost 6000 euros. The proceedings concerned Feldmann’s close ties to Arbeiterwohlfahrt (Awo).
Feldmann had been accused by the public prosecutor’s office of letting the Awo pull him in front of their cart and being willing to behave benevolently as a politician towards the social association. In return, Awo granted advantages, including an overpaid job for Feldmann’s then girlfriend and later wife at the head of a newly created German-Turkish Awo daycare center in Frankfurt.
The proceedings also involved campaign donations raised by Awo. The public prosecutor had demanded a fine of 31,500 euros in two cases for accepting an advantage, divided into 180 daily rates of 175 euros each.
Feldmann: “I’m not corrupt”
Feldmann had always rejected the allegations and said he hoped for an acquittal. In his last word as a defendant, he protested: “I didn’t buy anything and I’m not corrupt.” In their pleadings, the defense attorneys demanded the acquittal of the SPD politician. The 64-year-old did not unduly influence city politics. As far as the management of the day care center is concerned, Feldmann was able to assume that his later wife’s Turkish origin and relevant studies would allow her to be hired legally.
The procedure is related to the scandal surrounding allegations of fraud in the millions at the Awo district associations in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden. The former Wiesbaden Awo managing director Hannelore Richter had repeatedly asked Feldmann for support with SMS messages that were read out in the process. As an Awo special representative in Frankfurt, Richter had given Feldmann’s girlfriend at the time the post of daycare manager despite a lack of professional experience and qualifications. In addition, she had collected donations for Feldmann’s re-election as Frankfurt Mayor.
Feldmann was – also as a consequence of the indictment and the process – on November 6th with a referendum voted out.