The affair has been shaking the Hessian judiciary since the summer of 2020. (Image: dpa)
Dusseldorf In the criminal proceedings against the former head of the Central Office for Medical Industry Criminal Law in Hesse, Alexander Badle, the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office has demanded a prison sentence of seven and a half years. She accuses the 56-year-old of commercial corruption, infidelity and tax evasion.
Badle “deliberately abused” his position and “did considerable damage to the state of Hesse,” argued the public prosecutor’s office this Friday before the Frankfurt Regional Court. She attested to him a “high degree of criminal energy.”
The trial against Badle, who once represented the authority as spokesman for the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office and was himself regarded nationwide as the face of the fight against corruption, has been underway there since January 13. This changed in one fell swoop in July 2020. Badle was arrested at his workplace in the Attorney General’s Office – the case shook the Hessian judiciary in the long term.
Accused chief public prosecutor: Ex-partner gave first indications
Badle later admitted much of what caused incredulous amazement far beyond that at the beginning. The allegations escalated as the investigation progressed. Badles’ former partner had given the impetus for the investigation.
In June 2022, prosecutors finally presented their 259-page indictment against Badle. In it, the prosecutors charged the former colleague with 101 cases of commercial corruption, 55 cases of serious breach of trust and nine cases of tax evasion. The total damage for the state of Hesse is said to be in the tens of millions.
In essence, it is about the fact that Badle received bribes for the award of expert opinions to external service providers in proceedings for alleged billing fraud in the healthcare sector. This happened in particular in interaction with an old school friend Badles, who is also accused.
The school friend’s company, who gave Badle orders in return for bribes, lived almost exclusively on orders from the public prosecutor’s office: according to the indictment, 90 percent of its turnover came from government orders.
Badle admits to bribes and tax evasion
For Badle’s accomplices, prosecutors on Friday demanded a sentence of three and a half years for bribery. Like Badle, he had admitted the allegations of corruption in court. In the period between 2015 and 2020 alone, Badle received bribes of 280,000 euros from one company and 66,000 euros from another.
While Badle admitted this and the tax evasion, he rejected the breach of trust he was also accused of. Badle said he did not commission any reports that were not required and did not expand any report orders. He has been in custody since January 2022 – after being released from prison in the meantime, he was arrested again after the allegations had expanded.
In the coming week, the defense attorneys for Badle and his accomplices will first plead the verdict will be announced on Friday.
More: What the arrested chief prosecutor was apparently fatal.