corruption
District employees bribed – SPD politician is said to have received 300,000 euros from smugglers
In addition to the district employee, two lawyers are also being investigated
© Tim Oelbermann / Imago Images
A district employee from near Düsseldorf was allegedly bribed by smugglers and is now in custody. The smuggling gang he worked for specialized in wealthy Chinese people.
A senior employee of the Düren district who has since been arrested is said to have been bribed with 300,000 euros in cash by smugglers. This was confirmed by a spokesman on Tuesday Düsseldorf public prosecutor’s office, after the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger” had previously reported. The SPD politician was arrested on April 17th as part of a raid against an international smuggling gang in eight federal states. According to police and public prosecutors, the smugglers specialized in wealthy people, mostly from China.
Perpetrators are said to have earned more than nine million euros
The public prosecutor’s office accuses the district employee of having used his influence with the authorities when clerks wanted to reject the Chinese citizens’ applications for a residence permit in Germany.
The two main suspects in the case are two 42 and 46 year old lawyers from the Cologne area. According to the public prosecutor’s office, their foreign clients are said to have transferred a total of more than nine million euros for the smuggling services. When asked, neither the defense lawyers of the two imprisoned lawyers nor those of the Düren district employee wanted to comment, reported the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”.