Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) - According to a psychologist, the former senior public prosecutor accused of corruption has a self-esteem problem. The witness, who testified before the Frankfurt district court on Friday, had had more than 30 conversations with the accused as an institutional psychologist in custody since 2020.
The former head of a nationwide investigative agency against corruption in the healthcare system and spokesman for the Attorney General's Office has had to answer to allegations of corruption since January 13. According to the public prosecutor's office, the 55-year-old enriched himself by issuing reports and received bribes. He is charged with bribery, embezzlement and tax evasion.
During the trial, the accused himself described his difficult childhood: the alcoholic father, the helpless mother, the years in a children's home and sexual abuse. According to the psychologist, this led to a feeling of powerlessness and a negative self-image. The accused tried to compensate with workaholism and clung to unhealthy relationships.
The lawyer found the arrest a "relief": "The house of cards has collapsed," said the psychologist. He does not consider him to be suicidal "despite the high height of the fall". It seemed "authentic and credible" to him: he doesn't think he's shifting blame away from himself with his revelations, but that he really wants to work on himself.
With the bribes - which the accused confessed to in court - he said it was more about "a feeling of security", about being able to offer something to others, not about a life of luxury. The statement of a second witness suggests that he did it anyway: A tax investigator described the securing of documents in one of the apartments that the accused owned at the time. It was furnished to a very high standard, the closets full of expensive clothes, shoes and watches.
According to the witness, the investigations revealed that the accused not only did not pay taxes on the bribes, but also on rental income from an apartment where his mother lived. The lawyer, who is considered a luminary nationwide, also did not pay taxes on the fees for lectures. Overall, the tax liability has added up to around 360,000 euros. The defendant paid the sum in full after selling one of his apartments.
