The voted-out Frankfurt Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann (SPD) has been found guilty in the corruption trial before the regional court. Feldmann has to pay a fine of 120 daily rates of 175 euros in two cases for taking advantage, as the Frankfurt Regional Court announced on Friday. He also has to pay a value replacement of almost 6000 euros. With more than 90 daily rates, a convict is considered a criminal record.
The proceedings concerned Feldmann’s close ties to Arbeiterwohlfahrt (AWO). Feldmann had been accused by the public prosecutor’s office of being willing to behave benevolently as a politician towards the social association. In return, the AWO granted advantages, including an overpaid job for Feldmann’s then girlfriend and later wife at the head of a newly created German-Turkish AWO daycare center.
The proceedings also involved campaign donations raised by the AWO. The public prosecutor had demanded a fine of 31,500 euros in two cases for accepting an advantage, divided into 180 daily rates of 175 euros each.
Feldmann had always rejected the allegations and said he hoped for an acquittal. In his last word as a defendant, he asserted: “I didn’t reach into any funds and I’m not corrupt.” In their pleadings, the defense attorneys demanded the acquittal of the SPD politician. The 64-year-old did not unduly influence city politics. As far as the management of the day-care center is concerned, Feldmann was able to assume that his later wife’s Turkish origins and relevant studies meant that her appointment was legal.
The procedure is related to the scandal surrounding allegations of fraud in the millions at the AWO district associations in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden. The former Wiesbaden AWO managing director Hannelore Richter had repeatedly asked Feldmann for support with SMS messages that were read out in the process. Richter, as AWO special representative in Frankfurt/Main, had given Feldmann’s girlfriend at the time the position of day-care center manager, despite a lack of professional experience and qualifications. In addition, she had collected donations for Feldmann’s re-election as Frankfurt Mayor.
Feldmann was – also as a consequence of the indictment and the process – voted out by a referendum on November 6th.
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