"I massively abused the trust placed in me, I have to take responsibility for it": Alexander B., suspended senior public prosecutor and former head of the "Central Office for Combating Property Crimes and Corruption in the Health Care System" at the Public Prosecutor's Office, had a big one on Friday Criminal Chamber of the Frankfurt Regional Court essentially admitted his crimes.

He is accused of continued commercial corruption, breach of trust and tax evasion.

Helmut Schwan

Freelance author in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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He is aware that he has caused serious damage to the Hessian judiciary, said the man, who was long considered one of the most diligent and "toughest" prosecutors in the country.

He had specialized in checking the accounts of resident doctors, pharmacists and clinics for possible fraudulent manipulation.

He was arrested in the summer of 2020 and since then he has been in custody with a longer break.

In essence, he is said to have benefited greatly from orders that he placed with external service providers in the office.

Around 350,000 euros in bribes are said to have flowed.

Because of the statute of limitations, the allegations are limited to the period from 2015 to 2020.

According to his own calculations, B. even collected more than 500,000 euros from this "additional income".

He admitted in court on Friday that he had already reached a corresponding unlawful agreement in 2010 with Bernhard A., the founder of the company Meditransparent, a friend since school days.

Total damage could be in the millions

They developed the idea for a company together.

In his opinion, the company legitimately used B. in the first few years to check the doctors' fees.

Most of the experts employed were trained medical assistants who were familiar with accounting.

At first B. collected one, later even two thirds of the net profit.

In 2013, as B. confirmed, a bribe was paid by a second service provider specializing in data analysis.

The suspended senior public prosecutor faces significant legal and financial consequences after a conviction.

The total damage caused by excessive payments by the judiciary to the accused's business partners and possible claims for recourse by medical professionals who are overwhelmed with investigations could run into millions.

According to his own words, B. had been looking for reasons why he had "failed" so much since his arrest.

It is now clear to him that traumatic experiences in childhood and adolescence had contributed to this.

He was sexually abused by his father, an alcoholic and aggressive man, for a number of years.

His mother, who put him in a home for the first two years of his life, did not intervene.

In response to this experience, he developed a strong will to survive.

But instead of facing "personal demons," he tried to escape them with "diligence and discipline."

According to his account, after the state examination he worked a lot and did not allow himself any vacation.

In 2002, B. moved to the Attorney General's Office with the area of ​​responsibility for "Crime in the Health Care System" and later became the authority's spokesman.

"Pulled from the Swamp"

The process may be able to clarify why no one noticed that he was apparently losing his sense of wrongdoing, as well as the reasons for the lack of controls.

B. speaks of the financial hardship he got into as a result of large donations to his partner at the time and her children.

He had also bought condominiums and renovated properties.

The woman, a Meditransparent employee, reported B. in 2019 after the relationship broke up.

The chief public prosecutor was observed.

He was seen withdrawing money from the account where the bribe was paid using a debit card provided by his friend.

He is said to have earned around 4000 euros per month in this way.

Alexander B. was visibly trying to take most of the blame on Friday.

He regretted that two of his employees were also being investigated at the Attorney General's Office.

His friend, who is also accused of bribery and other crimes, has repeatedly offered to "end the system".

But he couldn't stop it.

"If I hadn't been arrested, I would have moved on.

I'm grateful to have been pulled out of the swamp by this.” The trial will continue on Wednesday.