Fraud case in Ottersheim: Police search apartments and offices!

Fraud case in Ottersheim: Police search apartments and offices!

In the Donnersberg district, more precisely in Ottersheim, the Kaiserslautern public prosecutor's office is investigating suspected fraud in connection with a planned senior citizens' residence. The investigation has been going on for over a year and is aimed at two people responsible for the property developer. The accusation: The accused defrauded home buyers of a total of around 3.5 million euros. To check this suspicion, the police became active on Tuesday and searched apartments and business premises in several cities, including Kaiserslautern, Munich, Bergstrasse, Berlin and Bremerhaven, as tagesschau.de reported.

According to the investigation, those responsible are said to have faked the construction progress of the senior residence since mid-2022 in order to persuade buyers to pay further installments. However, these payments were not yet contractually available. In addition to fraud, there is also talk of possible violations of the Construction Claims Insurance Act, bankruptcy, delay in insolvency and forgery of documents. It also became known that the property development company was already insolvent at the beginning of 2024, but those responsible did not apply for bankruptcy, but instead signed the company over to a straw man in order to avoid their legal responsibility [rheinpfalz.de].

Investigations and searches

The searches on Tuesday were not carried out solely by the Kaiserslautern public prosecutor's office, but were also accompanied by support teams from Munich, southern Hesse, the Berlin State Criminal Police Office and the Bremerhaven police. These operations were also preceded by two public prosecutors and extensive investigative measures to analyze the company structures and money flows. The investigators hoped to find possible evidence by securing numerous documents and data.

Although the searches have already taken place, the accused have not yet issued a statement on the allegations. It remains to be seen whether the investigation will progress, as the public prosecutor's office now has to evaluate the seized documents.

Consequences for those affected

The allegations against those responsible for the property development company concern a large number of apartment buyers who may have found themselves in financial distress as a result of the alleged machinations. Damage totaling 3.5 million euros is attributed to the injured parties. This situation sheds critical light on trustworthiness and control in the construction industry, particularly in the area of ​​senior residences, which are intended to provide a safe environment for older people.

The further steps of the public prosecutor's office will be watched with particular interest, as the results must clarify the measures and responsibilities in the procedure so that the affected buyers can possibly be compensated.