Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) - The public prosecutor's office in Frankfurt is investigating several cases of corruption in the allocation of apartments. The accused are two employees of the Frankfurt housing company ABG, which is majority owned by the city, as well as intermediaries and tenants. "It's about the allegation of preferential allocation of ABG rental apartments in exchange for bribes," said the spokeswoman for the Frankfurt public prosecutor's office, Nadja Niesen, on Thursday. Hessenschau.de had previously reported about it.
The chairman of the ABG management board, Frank Junker, said on Thursday that an employee had been fired without notice due to allegations of corruption. He is not aware of any proceedings against another ABG employee. After an indication of a possible advantage, the housing company immediately filed a complaint against the employee at the time, around 2020. "We react immediately with martial measures," said Junker.
The public prosecutor's office has been investigating the complex of proceedings since around spring 2020, said authority spokeswoman Niesen. In October 2021, according to prosecutors, investigators searched several apartments and workplaces. Further procedures were added in 2022. In January of this year, two proceedings were then discontinued because the suspicion of bribery and corruptibility in business transactions was not substantiated.
The public prosecutor's office did not say how much money the alleged bribes should be about. According to ABG Managing Director Junker, the allegation against the employee was a three-digit amount for the preferred housing agency.
The ABG Holding Group is majority-owned by the City of Frankfurt. It includes around 54,000 apartments and 37,000 other rental properties such as garage parking spaces and commercial units.
