Far-right German EU lawmaker caught up in contract fraud probe

Maximilian Krah, a far-right EU lawmaker from Germany, is dealing with scrutiny from the EU prosecutor’s workplace over potential contract fraud. 

According to a few lawmakers from Krah’s Identity & Democracy (ID) group in the European Parliament, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) is reviewing Krah’s position in a public contract bid following an investigation from the EU’s anti-fraud workplace, often called OLAF. EPPO, not like OLAF, has the authority to carry legal costs.

The case facilities on the method Krah used to award a communications contract for his ID group. According to a letter despatched to OLAF and seen by POLITICO, Krah allegedly conspired with a number of German companies to rig the bidding for Polifakt, an organization linked to him. The contract was in the end halted however may have been value tens of hundreds of euros in EU funds.

OLAF later despatched a letter to EPPO, dated March 14, saying the workplace had closed its probe however suggesting the prosecutor look into the matter, in keeping with two individuals who have seen the memo.

“It appears that the facts may constitute potential criminal conduct (by Maximilian Krah) to be qualified as fraud affecting the financial interests of the European Union,” it reads, in keeping with a European Parliament official who reviewed it.

Krah is adamant that the case towards him is a fabricated plot to break him politically — a part of a broader energy wrestle among the many 9 members of Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) get together in Brussels, who’ve clashing views on China and on Russia’s warfare in Ukraine. And it comes simply as AfD prepares to select its prime candidates for the 2024 EU election. 

“There are obviously people who don’t like to see me [ranked] one or two, and that creates attacks,” Krah stated.

“Those attacks don’t come from the political opposition,” he added. “They come from the inside. Someone has constructed these accusations. These are constructed accusations.” 

Krah argued he’s being handled as “guilty until proven innocent.”

Both OLAF and EPPO refused to touch upon particular person circumstances when requested by POLITICO.

€100,000 contract 

The case began, Krah stated, with an nameless tip-off despatched to OLAF, a translated model of which was seen by POLITICO. 

The letter hyperlinks Krah and his chief of workers, Jörg Sobolewski, to Polifakt, in addition to the 2 different firms concerned in the contract tender — Hinato and Brandmarker. 

The letter additionally stated the contract “involves several hundred thousand euros,” however Krah stated the ceiling was €100,000.

Sobolewski additionally denied any wrongdoing, arguing he and Krah solely recommended firm names to officers in the ID group’s secretariat, who then dealt with the tender process. The pair pushed again towards allegations in the tip-off to OLAF that there have been any particular connections between them and Polifakt, saying it is only one of a small variety of PR companies that works with the AfD.

While the pair acknowledged that the language in the three provides is comparable, they argued that the businesses had been more likely to have used the identical template for making use of for the contract as they used the identical translator. “I have nothing to do with it,” Krah stated.

“The question is: Do they only share the template? Or did they also make negotiations on the price?” Krah requested. “This is the only open question. But if they did negotiations on the prices, then it’s their misbehavior and not mine.”

Josef Konrad, a supervisor with Polifakt, stated there was no malicious intent or wrongdoing from his firm, “other than using the same template due to the complicated nature of the tender procedure, which is all written in legal English.”

Brandmarker didn’t reply to a request for remark. Attempts to achieve Hinato had been unsuccessful.

Either manner, Krah pressured, no cash has been spent and the process was in the end stopped at his request. 

But because it’s EPPO’s duty to look into the case earlier than dismissing it, Krah acknowledged he now has a political drawback. He has already been suspended by the ID group since February 8 because of the OLAF probe. 

“I am completely in a Kafkaesque situation,” he stated.

Vendetta 

Krah hinted the allegations of fraud towards him would possibly come from Nicolaus Fest, one other AfD lawmaker in Brussels, who has been under fire throughout the AfD get together for refusing to pay monetary contributions to the nationwide get together. 

The AfD delegation’s performing chief, MEP Joachim Kuhs, even overtly stated he thought Fest was behind the nameless tip-off to OLAF.

Fest pushed again towards this. 

“Mr. Krah is always trying to pretend as if this is a personal vendetta,” Fest stated. “I have nothing to do with the OLAF case, and I’m certainly not the person who rigged this tender.”

Fest stated the allegation that he had tipped off OLAF was “nonsense,” including that the unique letter contained “some insider knowledge I could not possess.”

Separately, the AfD has began a process to expel Fest from the get together, in keeping with an inner doc seen by POLITICO. The doc cites “party-damaging behavior due to the non-payment of mandate fees and untrue, dishonorable allegations.” 

Fest confirmed to POLITICO {that a} process was underway to take away him however stated he would attraction and {that a} last determination is unlikely to be made till the tip of the yr. 

Fest has been refusing to pay contributions to the get together after being upset in regards to the leak of a message he despatched in which he described the late European Parliament President David Sassoli as a “filthy pig.”

Sarah Wheaton and Lili Bayer contributed reporting.