Parking Enforcer and Wife Apprehended in €1 Million Meter Embezzlement Case
A meter attendant and his spouse have been detained on allegations of embezzling over €1m out of the coin-operated meters of a small German town.
The unnamed municipal employee is thought to have taken cash out of parking meters in Kempten on numerous instances and placed them in bank accounts that his spouse had access to, authorities said in a release.
A money laundering alert by a credit institution alerted authorities to the alleged embezzlement. The parking inspector has been charged with numerous charges of theft, while his spouse is charged with 720 counts of aiding and abetting theft.
The town's Head the mayor said he was stunned and disappointed by the claims.
In the fall, the local public prosecutor's office were notified that cash was repeatedly being deposited into multiple accounts, as reported by sources.
Police then raided work locations in the early hours of 24 November, the very day that a 40-year-old man and a woman in her late thirties were taken into custody.
They are now being detained in different jails.
It is not clear how long it might have taken the couple to accumulate the amount.
In response to the accusations, the mayor announced the formation of a committee to review previous procedures, identify possible weaknesses, and reliably remedy them for the coming years.
Kiechle added that the identities of the couple could not currently be released due to the active probe and privacy concerns.
In a written statement, Kiechle said: "I certainly support the public prosecutor's office and the police in their detailed investigation of the allegations."
"Until the proceedings are concluded, the innocent until proven guilty applies," he continued.
The town is among the most historic settlements in Germany. Located in the country's south, it lies under the slopes of the Allgäu region and has approximately 70,000 inhabitants.
