Dhe Frankfurt Regional Court sentenced the former Frankfurt Mayor Peter Feldmann (SPD) on Friday to a fine of 120 daily rates of 175 euros for accepting an advantage.
The public prosecutor’s office had accused him because his former girlfriend and wife, who is now separated from him, is said to have been given a managerial position with a salary above the collective agreement and a company car in a German-Turkish daycare center run by Arbeiterwohlfahrt (AWO) for which she was not qualified . Feldmann himself worked for the AWO until he was elected Mayor of Frankfurt in 2012. He was also accused of having raised donations for his campaign in the 2018 election campaign for the mayor’s office. In return, Feldmann had “tacitly agreed” with those responsible at the AWO that their interests should be taken into account in a benevolent manner when he exercised his office.
Public prosecutors had applied for 180 daily rates
The process started in October. Feldmann said in his statement and in his last word that he was not corrupt and had never exerted any influence in favor of the AWO. He did not know of his wife’s employment contract and did not benefit from her earnings. He did not understand messages and requests from the AWO managers as improper influence, and he did not comply with them.
The public prosecutor’s office, on the other hand, had requested a fine of 180 daily rates of 175 euros each, because after several months of taking evidence, they considered the allegations to be confirmed. Feldmann recognized that his future wife only got the job in view of his official position. She was not qualified and got the confirmation after dinner without the AWO managing director having known her beforehand. “She wouldn’t have been hired if she hadn’t been the mayor’s girlfriend.” Feldmann also concluded a return agreement with the AWO in the event that he didn’t become mayor. Finally, with the collection of donations, the AWO managing director wanted to secure his unbroken goodwill.
Feldmann was voted out in a referendum in November while the process was already underway. He had not only come under pressure because of his office and the charges, but had also triggered criticism when Eintracht Frankfurt received the City Hall after winning the Europa League. Among other things, he had taken the trophy out of the hands of coach Oliver Glasner and captain Sebastian Rode. It later became known that on the plane on the way to the final in Seville he had announced through the on-board microphone that the flight attendants had “hormonally incapacitated him”.
