Parking Inspector and Wife Apprehended in €1 Million Parking Theft Case
A parking inspector and his wife have been detained on allegations of embezzling more than €1m from the parking meters of a modest German town.
The unnamed municipal employee is believed to have removed cash from parking meters in the town on multiple instances and placed them in bank accounts that his spouse had control over, local police said in a release.
A financial crime alert by a credit institution alerted authorities to the suspected embezzlement. The attendant has been charged with 720 counts of embezzlement, while his spouse faces multiple counts of assisting in the crime.
The town's Mayor Thomas Kiechle expressed he was stunned and dismayed by the claims.
In the fall, the local legal authorities were informed that cash was repeatedly being deposited into several accounts, according to reports.
Officers then searched office premises in the morning of November 24, the very day that a man in his forties and a woman in her late thirties were arrested.
They are now being held in separate detention facilities.
It is uncertain how long it might have taken the couple to accumulate the sum.
In response to the accusations, Kiechle declared the appointment of a committee to review previous work processes, identify potential weaknesses, and effectively correct them for the coming years.
Kiechle added that the identities of the couple could not at this time be disclosed due to the ongoing investigation and confidentiality issues.
In a official comment, the mayor stated: "I certainly back the public prosecutor's office and the law enforcement in their detailed investigation of the claims."
"Until the proceedings are resolved, the presumption of innocence stands," he added.
The town is one of the oldest settlements in the country. Situated in the southern region, it lies under the slopes of the Allgäu and has around 70,000 inhabitants.
