Alexander Falk must have been longing for this Wednesday, basically since July 9 two years ago. At that time, he was sentenced to a good four years in prison by the Frankfurt Regional Court after spectacular criminal proceedings. Since then he has pinned his hopes on the second criminal division of the Federal Court of Justice. It is now up to the highest German criminal judges to restore the honor of the fallen entrepreneur’s son – or to close the files on a case that has moved the business world like no other: a man from a good family, blessed with great wealth and his own daring Entrepreneurial spirit is said to have planned a plot to murder a renowned Frankfurt lawyer, according to the original allegation – with the help of organized crime. Such a case is unprecedented even in the tough Frankfurt judiciary.
Falk has always vehemently denied the allegations. In the proceedings, the court stuck to “lying witnesses and manipulated audio recordings, instead of hearing the witnesses they described as central and taking into account the sometimes significantly exculpatory facts,” Falk’s defense attorney Björn Gercke railed after the verdict was pronounced. But the Frankfurt Regional Court saw it as proven that the then 50-year-old heir to the city map publisher of the same name had ordered an attack on a Frankfurt lawyer. The accusation of attempted murder could no longer be upheld in the proceedings, but Falk was convicted of inciting dangerous bodily harm. This process was always sensational. The motive for this outrageous act according to the court: The lawyer was part of a team that wanted to win a double-digit million amount in a damages process.
