Friedrich-Wilhelm Göbel, who was in the executive chair at the fashion retailer Aachener until the end of last year, is said to have been arrested.
Authorities had arrested Göbel in Milan, who was wanted under a European arrest warrant, confirmed the Hagen public prosecutor’s office in response to a request from the daily newspaper Westfalenpost. He had already been extradited.
Göbel did not appear at a court date in November 2023, whereupon an arrest warrant was issued, various media reported at the time. The proceedings were about a false affidavit in 2020. He gave false information to a bailiff about his income and gave a lower value.
A month later, in December 2023, his next appointment was already scheduled. This time the Dortmund District Court was concerned with an alleged violation of the GmbH Act. He is said to have confirmed in a commercial register entry in 2021 that he had not committed any economic misconduct in the past five years. However, he is said to have been convicted of delaying bankruptcy in 2017.
Göbel was managing director of TEH Textilhandel GmbH until the end of last year. At the end of November 2023, Oliver Nobel announced that he had been appointed sole managing director of the Aachen-based parent company. Before Göbel founded Aachener, he was head of communications at Hagen-based fashion retailer Sinn, which is owned by his ex-wife Isabella Göbel.
FashionUnited has contacted the public prosecutor’s office in Hagen and Aachen and asked for further information and confirmation of the report.