The real estate giant Adler Group is planning to build 330 condominiums in the Steglitzer Kreisel – but the construction work has been stalled for years Photo: picture alliance/dpa
By Birgit Bürkner and Sönke Schulenburg
Buying real estate, artificially inflating and undermining the value. These allegations have been leveled against the Adler Group for years. Under the leadership of the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), 175 investigators are currently searching 21 of the company’s properties across Europe. This also includes the headquarters of the subsidiary Adler Real Estate in Berlin-Tiergarten, as well as apartments and a law firm.
Investigations are being carried out, among other things, for falsifying the balance sheet or aiding and abetting former board members and executives of the group. According to the public prosecutor, the suspects are German, Austrian and English nationals between the ages of 38 and 66.
They are said to have relieved the company of significant sums by concluding consultancy contracts on behalf of the company and making payments for which “according to the current state of investigation there was no consideration,” according to the public prosecutor.
There is still the suspicion that the accused made offers of favors and bogus deals in order to drive up prices for projects.
Abandoned building ruins are seen nationwide as a sign of the Adler Group’s actions that can be seen from afar. For example the gutted high-rise tower “Steglitzer Kreisel” or the concrete skeleton of the planned “Vitopia Campus” in Offenbach.
Objects are also searched in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as in Austria, the Netherlands, Portugal, Monaco, Luxembourg and Great Britain.