Parking Inspector and Wife Apprehended in €1 Million Meter Embezzlement Investigation
One meter attendant and his wife have been arrested on suspicion of misappropriating more than €1m out of the coin-operated meters of a modest German town.
The unnamed city worker is believed to have removed coins from parking meters in the town on numerous instances and placed them in financial accounts that his spouse had control over, local police said in a statement.
A money laundering alert by a credit institution alerted authorities to the suspected embezzlement. The parking inspector has been accused with numerous charges of theft, while his spouse faces multiple counts of assisting in the crime.
The town's Mayor the mayor expressed he was shocked and dismayed by the allegations.
In October, the local legal authorities were notified that money was frequently being placed into multiple bank accounts, as reported by sources.
Police then raided office premises in the morning of November 24, the same day that a 40-year-old man and a woman in her late thirties were taken into custody.
They are now being detained in separate jails.
It is uncertain how much time it might have taken the couple to accumulate the amount.
In response to the accusations, the mayor announced the appointment of a commission to examine past procedures, uncover possible weaknesses, and reliably remedy them for the future.
Kiechle noted that the identities of the couple could not at this time be disclosed due to the active investigation and privacy concerns.
In a written statement, the mayor stated: "I naturally support the public prosecutor's office and the police in their detailed inquiry of the claims."
"Until the proceedings are resolved, the innocent until proven guilty applies," he added.
The town is one of the oldest towns in the country. Situated in the southern region, it sits under the slopes of the Allgäu and has approximately 70,000 inhabitants.
