Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) may have violated public procurement law when employing a consulting firm. A consultant who was no longer allowed to be commissioned directly is said to have been employed as a subcontractor by a law firm working for RBB. In addition, he is said to have invoiced services for the RBB, although he should no longer have been employed by them at that time, as the ARD political magazine “Contrasts” and the RBB research team reported on Thursday.
Furthermore, services from a contract with rbb media GmbH, a subsidiary of the broadcaster, are said to have been billed directly via the directorship of RBB. If the allegations are confirmed, experts believe that this would be problematic in terms of procurement law, it said. The RBB management did not want to comment on the research with reference to the ongoing investigations by the public prosecutor.
After allegations of corruption, taking advantage and wasting money, RBB director Patricia Schlesinger resigned at the beginning of August and was later dismissed. The Berlin public prosecutor’s office is investigating Schlesinger, her husband Gerhard Spörl and the former chairman of the RBB board of directors, Wolf-Dieter Wolf, on suspicion of infidelity and acceptance of benefits.
The RBB tries journalistically to clarify the events and has set up a research team that, according to the broadcaster, works independently and is not bound by any instructions.