The fresco shows company founder Rokossa in prominent company.
(Photo: private)
Cologne The public prosecutor’s office in Osnabrück has expanded its investigations into the Spartherm Feuerungstechnik company. In search of evidence, officials have been searching the premises of the stove builder’s company headquarters and the Gerhard Manfred Rokossa Foundation in Melle, Lower Saxony, since Thursday morning.
The foundation, named after the company founder, holds the shares in the group of companies. Rokossa’s private home is also said to have been searched. A spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office confirmed “investigative measures”, but did not want to comment on the details.
The investigations into suspected breaches of trust and tax evasion have been ongoing for several weeks. They were initiated by a criminal complaint by the management of Spartherm Feuerungstechnik GmbH at the beginning of August 2022. The managing directors are Andreas Schönfeld and Julian Oldemeyer. The company did not respond to inquiries.
According to its own statements, the management noticed after internal investigations and inventories that there had been a significant discrepancy between the manufacturer’s stoves produced and those officially sold. Checks had shown that part of the production had possibly been diverted and sold illegally. In the criminal complaint, the management complained about a “theft that was apparently planned down to the last detail”.
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Three people were reported. According to the company, after gaining knowledge of the alleged events, legal regulations forced them to report the incident. Otherwise the managing directors would have made themselves vulnerable.
Additional tax payments in the millions threaten
The company has agreed to cooperate with the tax authorities and has submitted corrected tax returns. The medium-sized company estimates the additional tax claims due to undeclared profits alone at 4.3 million euros. The potential crime period is from 2017 to 2022.
The current managing director felt compelled to file charges against several employees.
(Photo: Spartherm)
The public prosecutor initially determined against three employees. Then the Spartherm founder and longtime boss Gerhard Manfred Rokossa was put on the list of suspects.
The investigations mark a break in the Rokossa success story. Born in what is now Poland in 1939, he came to Germany in 1958. Rokossa initially worked for years as a hired locksmith. It was not until 1986, at the age of 47, that he founded Spartherm.
Company founder senses intrigue
Today the group employs more than 1,000 people and has an annual turnover of around 90 million euros. The company founder only left the operational business in mid-2022. He appointed Andreas Schönfeld as CEO.
They want to get rid of me. It is a slap in the face that after 40 years of successful work there is so much intrigue. I am deeply saddened. Spartherm founder Gerhard Manfred Rokossa
Rokossa retired to the foundation, which owns the group of companies. Rokossa has since left the Board of Trustees. His wife Ulrike Rokossa currently heads the board.
Rokossa has not yet responded to inquiries from the Handelsblatt. Compared to the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” he rejected the allegations. There have been no black sales to his knowledge, he said. “We produce 35,000 units a month. 0.3 percent of this can be described as shrinkage,” Rokossa told the newspaper. He smells a conspiracy: “They want to get rid of me. It is a slap in the face that after 40 years of successful work there is so much intrigue. I am deeply sad.”
More: Serious allegations against Spartherm founder Gerhard Manfred Rokossa