Overview
- The Landgericht Mönchengladbach convicted the former local official of particularly serious tax evasion involving nearly €38 million.
- The fraud relied on fictitious car-export transactions to Asia to evade value-added tax, which the defendant admitted.
- He told the court the scheme began in 2009 after his company’s revenues collapsed and said he should have filed for insolvency.
- A 2023 company audit uncovered the practices, and he was temporarily held in pretrial detention over a risk of evidence tampering.
- The arrest warrant remains initially unenforced after the verdict, and he expressed deep remorse despite his past civic honors and long FDP service.