First Patricia Schlesinger resigned as ARD chairwoman, followed by a second resignation as RBB director. Now there are criminal consequences.
In the affair of the resigned RBB director Patricia Schlesinger, the public prosecutor is conducting an investigation.
A spokesman for the Berlin authority confirmed to the German Press Agency on Monday that an official investigation was being carried out. The “Tagesspiegel” had previously reported.
According to a spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office, there is initial suspicion against Schlesinger, her husband and former “Spiegel” journalist Gerhard Spörl, as well as the RBB administrative board chief and trade fair chief inspector Wolf-Dieter Wolf. This loud on infidelity and acceptance of benefits.
The public prosecutor’s office had recently not pursued a complaint by the AfD, so the proceedings were resumed last week. The spokesman pointed out that there had been new publications in the meantime. The investigation is expected to take several months.
An external investigation is ongoing
Schlesinger, the head of the ARD broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), who resigned on Sunday, has been exposed to numerous allegations since the end of June through media reports – especially from “Business Insider” – as has her husband and the head of the board of directors, Wolf, whose office at RBB currently dormant. An external investigation into a law firm is ongoing. Results are not yet available. It is about the question of whether the station boss and the station chief controller Wolf could have treated each other too laxly in the event of a possible collision of interests. Both rejected allegations.
The previously unsolved allegations range from questionable consulting contracts to an RBB construction project that has now been put on hold, a large salary increase for Schlesinger to a good 300,000 euros and an additional bonus system. It’s also about food with “multipliers” at RBB’s expense in your private apartment and a luxurious company car with massage seats, for which there is said to have been a very high discount. Schlesinger’s husband also received orders from the state-owned Messe Berlin. (dpa)