Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - The owner of one of the largest brothels in Düsseldorf has been acquitted of charges of severe extortion. The 43-year-old could not be proven to have acted, judge Mihael Pohar said on Tuesday.
Four years ago, according to the indictment, he ordered a client to be filmed with a hidden camera while he had sex with a prostitute and then blackmailed him with the footage. The alleged victim "could not even remember whether he was blackmailed and paid in the summer or winter of 2018," said the judge.
The 46-year-old only filed a complaint almost two years after the alleged crime and at the time named June 2018 as the crime period. The police came in large numbers in November and searched the "sauna club" but found nothing incriminating.
The accused dismissed the allegation as fictitious and described the criminal complaint as an act of revenge from the milieu. "They wanted to take over the sauna club," he said.
The alleged victim, on the other hand, reported that the accused initially demanded 200,000 euros. Otherwise his wife would see the footage. He finally paid 100,000 euros in 50-euro bills in a plastic bag.
The 46-year-old is no stranger to the judiciary. He had already been sentenced to five and a half years in prison by the Hagen Regional Court in December 2019 for tax evasion in the tens of millions with manipulated slot machines.
