Ex-RBB boss Schlesinger is not only rid of her job. You are also threatened with criminal proceedings on suspicion of infidelity and taking advantage. Now investigators have searched the management floor of the station and secured documents.
In the ongoing investigation into the RBB crisis surrounding the allegations of felt, the Berlin public prosecutor's office searched the premises of the public broadcaster. A spokesman for the public prosecutor's office said in the morning that they were limited to the area of directorship at the station's main location in Berlin and documents were confiscated.
For some time now, the public prosecutor's office has been investigating the director of Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), Patricia Schlesinger, who was fired without notice, her husband and ex-"Spiegel" journalist Gerhard Spörl and the resigned station chief inspector Wolf-Dieter Wolf on suspicion of infidelity and Acceptance of Advantage. The presumption of innocence applies until the allegations have been clarified.
The RBB had previously reported on the raid. The documents should therefore be evaluated in the coming week. The workforce was informed about this on the intranet. The spokesman did not provide any further information on the further course of the proceedings.
The scandal that has plunged the public ARD broadcaster into a deep crisis is about questionable consulting contracts for a controversial RBB construction project, a hefty salary increase for Schlesinger, a questionable bonus system for executives, the settlement of Essen with invited guests in her private apartment at the expense of the RBB, controversial trips and coaching assignments for Schlesinger's husband at the state-owned Messe Berlin. There Wolf had also been chief controller until his resignation there. Schlesinger and Wolf rejected allegations. In addition to the investigations by the Attorney General's Office, an external investigation into the allegations by a law firm is also underway. Results are not yet available.
So far, no interim boss has been appointed to lead the ARD broadcaster out of the crisis. The ARD houses recently announced in an unprecedented campaign that they had lost confidence in the current RBB management.
(This article was first published on Saturday 03 September 2022.)
