More than two years after the beginning of the infidelity investigations against the former Greens parliamentary group leader in the Hamburg-Mitte district, Michael Osterburg, the procedure “according to current assessments has been determined”. This was announced by the spokeswoman for the Hamburg public prosecutor’s office, senior public prosecutor Mia Sperling-Karstens, when asked by WELT. The preparation of the final decision of the prosecution continues. She does not know when exactly the final order will be available – and thus, if necessary, an indictment.
The former partner of Hamburg’s Justice Senator Anna Gallina (Greens) has been under investigation since May 2020 for embezzlement of faction funds. Already in the spring of this year, a small inquiry by the CDU citizenship deputy Richard Seelmaecker revealed that the public prosecutor’s office had completed the hearing of witnesses. Accordingly, more than 200 witnesses were heard in connection with the allegations, including Gallina. The files fill seven boxes.
Osterburg is accused of having misappropriated funds as a former chairman of the district faction by billing private expenses through the faction in the years 2014 to 2019. It’s about 70,000 euros. These include various restaurant visits from a time when the 55-year-old and Gallina were still in a relationship. In addition, Osterburg is said to have ordered technical equipment from fraction funds.
Gallina’s interrogations ended in June last year. Among other things, it was necessary to find out whether the Justice Senator knew anything about the misappropriation of funds. After all, she was living with Osterburg at the time of the crime and has a child with him. It had already become known in autumn 2020 that the ex-politician was no longer a member of the state association of the Hamburg Greens.
According to senior public prosecutor Sperling-Karstens, the Osterburg case is “a very extensive procedure with a large number of pieces of evidence”. Ultimately, this not only had an effect on the duration of the investigations, but also meant that the closing order of the public prosecutor was correspondingly time-consuming.
In the investigation into suspected infidelity, Osterburg was still the only accused, Sperling-Karstens emphasized. So far, the 55-year-old has not gotten involved. Should he still break his silence, this could become exciting in a main hearing. It would also be possible to question Gallina as a witness in court.
