A four-year investigation by the Düsseldorf public prosecutor’s office (PO) into an extensive human trafficking ring in western Germany took a wild turn after the alleged gang leader testified for the first time, implicating several Christian Democrat (CDU) and Social Democrat (SPD) politicians, Junge Freiheit reported on Tuesday, June 11th.
According to the German daily, local politicians near Cologne had allegedly accepted large-scale bribes from the gang in exchange for giving out illegal residence permits. The full extent of these bribes is yet to be discovered, but “we’re talking about dubious donations in the six-digit range,” the website writes.
The Düsseldorf PO accuses the gang leader, Claus B., of helping wealthy clients, primarily from China, obtain German residence permits and register bogus companies in Germany without ever living or working there. The smuggling chief identified politicians who had been aiding him from both sides of the mainstream political divide, all of whom are denying the charges at this point.
Among others, the gang leader identified Dirk Hürtgen (CDU), the former head of the foreigners’ registration department of the town of Düren, 35 km southwest of Cologne; as well as his successor, the Greens’ Sybille Haussmann. The trafficking chief says that residence permits went for a fixed rate of €20,000 apiece.
However, Claus B’s disclosures suggest their bribes might pale in comparison to what the SPD managing director of the Heinsberg and Euskirchen sub-districts, Jens Bröker, had taken— totaling at least €300,000.
Hürtgen and Haussmann are denying the allegations, saying that the Federal Immigration Office had checked each case and found no irregularities in the documents submitted. Nonetheless, the PO continues to investigate the politicians involved.
The Düren District Administrator Wolfgang Spelthahn (CDU)— perhaps best known as the owner of football club FC Düren— is also among those identified by the gang leader, although Spelthahn is said to have solicited donations to his club rather than direct payments. He also denies all wrongdoing.
The prosecutors are investigating several shady donations and contracts related to the football club and its stadium. Suspicions have been raised about one company that generously sponsored the players’ jerseys and another one that rented the stadium’s advertising spots. On top of those, the club received €600,000 as a deposit for the construction of a new football field.
Spelthahn claims that both sponsorship contracts had been properly taxed, documented, and approved by the entire board. When asked, the official simply said he had no idea “some of the Chinese entering the country only met the necessary requirements on paper.”
