The trial against Markus Berktold (CSU), the mayor of the municipality of Seeg in Ostallgäu, begins this Monday in Nuremberg. The Nuremberg Public Prosecutor’s Office accuses him, among other things, of commercial fraud when claiming benefits from the so-called care rescue package, which was set up during the corona pandemic. A nursing service manager is also accused. Nuremberg is the headquarters of the Bavarian Central Office for Combating Fraud and Corruption in the Health Care System (ZKG), which is why the Swabian town hall boss must answer in Nuremberg before the 12th criminal chamber of the Nuremberg-Fürth Regional Court.
Together with the head of the nursing service, the mayor is said to have unlawfully billed services totaling around 2.1 million euros from a rescue package from 2020 to 2022. In order to cover this up, according to the prosecution, fictitious invoices were subsequently created to prove the benefits claimed. The public prosecutor’s office also accuses the accused mayor of several cases of breach of trust. As liquidator of a club, he is said to have transferred a total of 825,000 euros to his private account and not asserted rental claims of over 570,000 euros to which the club was entitled without any apparent reason.
The nursing service manager, in turn, is said to have unlawfully claimed benefits totaling 270,000 euros from the rescue package together with his co-accused wife. The public prosecutor’s office assumes that the couple wanted to use it to pay off private debts. According to the spokeswoman for the Nuremberg Higher Regional Court, Tina Haase, the responsible criminal chamber intends to separate the proceedings against the co-accused wife for health reasons before the trial begins. From Monday onwards, only two of the three defendants will have to answer for the main hearing. A complex trial is expected in Nuremberg; the indictment alone runs to more than 40 pages. The criminal chamber has scheduled a total of eleven days of hearings. A verdict is expected in January.
The investigators accuse the full-time mayor of having created a network of companies in the care sector consisting of several companies “controlled by him” – as an additional source of income. According to the Attorney General’s Office, Berktold’s goal was to provide his companies with “fresh capital.” According to investigators, corona-related additional expenses were claimed even after an inpatient nursing home was closed. Apparently the costs for a snow blower and an electronic locking system were also reimbursed – although the locking system was not even purchased at the time.
The public prosecutor’s office accuses the mayor of breach of trust in 37 cases
The public prosecutor’s office also commented in advance of the trial on the question of how the mayor of Seeg went about the acts he was accused of. She accuses the 49-year-old CSU politician of having “repeatedly referred to his position as mayor and the trustworthiness associated with this office” to employees of the nursing care funds in order to get money more quickly. In one case, a significant payout was said to have been stopped because – according to the public prosecutor’s office – “the fraud was exposed”.
The public prosecutor’s office also accuses the mayor of breach of trust in a total of 37 cases. He is said to have embezzled almost 1.4 million euros to the detriment of the Caritas Foundation Seeg. And as if that wasn’t enough, the investigators found a rifle, a pistol and ammunition in the mayor’s home – without him having the appropriate permission. Another accusation in the indictment is: illegal possession of ammunition and weapons.
An employee filed a criminal complaint and initiated the investigation. According to the public prosecutor’s office, the accused couple confessed to the allegations; the mayor initially did not comment. However, his lawyer had emphasized in various media that his client had never enriched himself personally. The CSU politician has been in custody since January, but business in the municipality of Seeg is currently being run on an interim basis. If the prosecution’s allegations were confirmed, especially that of commercial fraud, Berktold could face several years in prison – and removal from his position as a civil servant. According to the state prosecutor’s office, the mayor has now been temporarily suspended from duty. The presumption of innocence continues to apply to him.