Overview
- The Staatsanwaltschaft in Bonn is probing eight current JVA Euskirchen employees and three former inmates on suspicion they took payments to grant prisoners special privileges.
- Investigators say staff sold recurring monthly “Abos” that warned inmates of cell inspections and helped secure open‑prison release through false addresses and job claims.
- Authorities carried out large searches that yielded phones, storage media and documents, and prosecutors have seized additional prisoner files now under review to identify more possible beneficiaries.
- Two electronic master‑key transponder chips kept in a firefighting/emergency kit were found with their inner components removed and are being examined for whether they enabled unauthorized access.
- The NRW justice minister reported a state review found no comparable transponder tampering elsewhere and officials say a reported €70,000 deposit to an accused employee has not been confirmed as part of the prosecution's files.