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Munich (dpa) - In the affair of business with corona protective masks, the Munich Public Prosecutor's Office has for the first time obtained an arrest warrant against an accused.
In the process of suspected corruption, among others, Bavaria's ex-Justice Minister Alfred Sauter (CSU) and the member of the Bundestag Georg Nüßlein, who has since left the CSU, are investigated.
As a spokesman for the Attorney General explained, the arrest warrant is not directed against Sauter or Nüßlein.
The other three defendants in the trial are two businessmen and a tax advisor.
The investigators did not provide any further information as to whom the arrest warrant was issued against.
The public prosecutor's office had obtained the arrest warrant on Wednesday “because of an urgent suspicion and the existence of a reason for arrest” at the higher regional court in Munich, the suspect was then arrested.
The usual reason for adhesion in such procedures is the so-called risk of escape and blackout.
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In addition, the public prosecutor's office has now "initiated measures to safeguard assets on a large scale", according to their own statements.
This means that the agency freezes money or other assets that are said to have been earned from the suspected crimes.
In a lawsuit, the court can then order the money to be confiscated, which is known as asset recovery.
The investigation is ongoing on suspicion of corruption and bribery of elected officials.
It is about the suspicion that Nüßlein and the Bavarian member of the state parliament Sauter let themselves be smeared for brokering contracts for respiratory masks to the public sector in the Corona crisis.
Both have denied the allegations.
The investigators also point out that the presumption of innocence customary in the preliminary investigation applies to the five accused.
The affair plunged the Union parties into a deep crisis.
Former CDU member of the Bundestag, Nikolas Löbel, also received a commission for a mask business.
He has since resigned from the CDU and resigned his parliamentary mandate.
Because of the affair, the CDU and CSU want to tighten the transparency rules for MPs.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210325-99-968318 / 2