The workers' welfare scandal keeps turning.

There was now talk of a new “tip of the iceberg” in the city council's revision committee, chaired by Felix Kisseler (The Greens), but also of abysses.

Oliver Bock

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis and for Wiesbaden.

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    The occasion was given by media reports that in 2017 the costs of gastric surgery by former Awo managing director Hannelore Richter were taken over by the Awo district association. It was apparently a stomach reduction for around 11,000 euros. In order to disguise the payment of this highly private expense from the Awo fund, the amount was apparently divided between more than a dozen individual cost centers, including that of a day-care center, the costs of which the Awo in turn settles with the city.

    The parliamentary groups of CDU, FDP and BLW / ULW / BIG called for a comprehensive investigation, especially with regard to possible damage to the city.

    Marc Dahlen (CDU) spoke of a clearly “illegal procedure” by the Awo, and Hendrik Schmehl (SPD) of “criminal energy”.

    There are still many unanswered questions for him.

    He would like to know whether the payment of the hospital bill via a daycare billing office resulted in misappropriation of parental contributions or municipal funds.

    That is a task for the audit office.

    Still unexplained

    For the FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Diers stated that the assurances from the town hall that the city had not suffered any financial damage were based on inadequate audits. It remained unclear whether illegal bookings led to an increase in the costs for the daycare center billed between the city and Awo and, as a result, to an increase in the daycare budget.

    The public was once again excluded from discussing some facets. According to Mayor Gert-Uwe Mende (SPD), the city turned to the new Awo leadership after the allegations about the stomach operation became known. This had assured that a civil and criminal investigation was underway. A representative of the treasury and tax office assured that after filing for bankruptcy on November 24, 2020, all offices had been asked to name possible municipal claims against the Awo. There were 21 receivables totaling 6.1 million euros.

    The amount results primarily from the value of communal land that was left to the Awo via heritable building rights in order to run daycare centers on it, for example.

    These demands no longer exist, however, as the city and Awo agreed in May on the takeover of a real estate package for almost 15 million euros by the urban development company.

    In the course of the insolvency proceedings, the city had not given the opportunity to reduce or discontinue its contractually payable subsidies.

    The bankruptcy proceedings were opened on February 1st.

    Bogus employment

    How difficult and unsatisfactory the political clarification work of the Awo scandal is was also shown with regard to the questions about Christoph Manjura (SPD), who was a personal advisor to the Awo management for some time before his appointment to the full-time magistrate. In the past, not only the question of a possible bogus employment relationship was in the room to enable Manjura to work on his political career. The CDU followed up with numerous questions about the relationship between Manjura and the Awo, which the city passed on to the charity.

    The Awo coolly rejects such information. The questions intervened "in the freedom of organization, the autonomy of associations and the autonomy of charities," says a letter from the board to Mende. Such interventions are forbidden to municipal and state agencies. The Awo does not provide any information on details of recruitment processes. In the committee there was great disappointment and anger about how the scandal-ridden Awo dealt with questions from the city. One had expected more gratitude and willingness to cooperate, it said from the parliamentary groups. There was also talk of a moral duty to answer, after all, the city of the Awo had "saved the head", as a city councilor put it. It also became clear that the possibilities for political reappraisal are narrowly limited.

    Hope now rests on the reports from the audit office, which are expected in the foreseeable future. It is foreseeable that no less exciting topics await the Revision Committee in the new electoral term than in the previous five years. The change of chairmanship from Robert Lambrou (AfD) to Felix Kisseler (The Greens) should be more than just a personage. Kisseler has a different understanding of the committee's work: "I want to get away from the role of a tribunal."