Scammers in the Chancellery! 290,000 euros stolen, but …

By Anne Losensky

Always worked a lot, never earned enough: An employee from the Federal Chancellery made sure that around 10,000 euros a month were transferred to his account in addition to his salary for years. Then a diligent colleague did the math by chance…

Tiergarten District Court. Accused: Andreas G. (60). Fraud and breach of trust in 39 counts – he admits everything the prosecution accuses him of.

Employed in the Federal Chancellery since 2001, most recently in the communications technology department (around EUR 2,000 net). He was allowed to sign disbursement orders, instruct funds. From December 2018, he used old invoices in a slightly different way: with his own salary account as the recipient.

In May 2021 he was exposed. A colleague (57) finally found the time to check some invoices in the Corona home office. He noticed that different recipients had the same IBAN.

“It led to his salary account,” says the colleague. And adds cryptically: “He’s always been very vehement about what he thought was his right…”

Andreas G. was terminated without notice. Complained (“formal error”). Negotiated the ordinary termination. Nothing could be taken from him for all that money, nothing could be pledged. “It’s all messed up,” he claims.

Probation instead of jail

The prosecutor wants to put the greedy bailiff in prison for three years, but…

He gets off with a year and 10 months probation. In addition, the confiscation of the criminally obtained 290,000 euros is ordered.

“The state of Berlin has had the title for 30 years now,” says judge Sascha Daue (until G. is 90 years old). But the ex-bailiff has been unable to work since then, he says.

It was “made easy” for him, says the judge: “The control system in the Federal Chancellery was suboptimal.” Only then was it switched from paper to digital…

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