In the trial of an alleged fraud involving millions at the expense of Fielmann AG, the verdict will probably be postponed until next year.
The responsible chamber of commerce has set new dates until January 12, 2023, a court spokeswoman confirmed on Wednesday on request. It was initially expected that the process would end at the end of October. By then, the court had scheduled appointments.
In the trial, which has been running since June, the prosecution accuses an ex-Fielmann employee in the advertising department, an ex-handball player and four other defendants of having damaged Fielmann by around 6.4 million euros through false invoices for marketing measures.
However, according to the statement made by the Fielmann employee’s supervisor at the time, the court dropped the allegation of fraud, according to the defense. The ex-head of the press and public relations department had testified that he had checked the bills for plausibility. However, the chamber did not consider this to be credible because it would then have noticed discrepancies in the calculations.
The defense, which also doubts the extent of the damage, assumes that “five of the six accused no longer have to go to prison.” You would have to expect fines or probation at best. Only the accused ex-Fielmann employee is threatened with imprisonment. Because for him as an employee at the time, the allegation of breach of trust remains, as does the aiding and abetting by the other accused. For her, however, “this allegation is considerably less serious.” (dpa)