Düren's District - Alleged bribery of employee worth 300,000 euros
A high-ranking official from the Düren district has allegedly been paid 300,000 euros in cash as a bribe by smugglers, according to a spokesperson from the Düsseldorf public prosecutor's office. This news came to light after a report in Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper on Tuesday.
The official was among those arrested on April 17 during a nationwide raid against a well-connected smuggling gang operating in eight states. The smugglers reportedly specialized in helping wealthy individuals, mainly from China, enter the country.
The public prosecutor's office accuses the district employee of using their connections with the authorities to ensure that case workers would grant residence permits to the Chinese citizens despite their applications being rejected.
Two main suspects in the case, aged 42 and 46, are lawyers from the Cologne area. They are believed to have received more than nine million euros in payments from their foreign clients for their smuggling services, according to the public prosecutor's office. Neither the defense lawyers of the two arrested lawyers nor those of the Düren district employee have commented on the matter.
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Source: www.stern.de
