Parking Inspector and Wife Apprehended in €1 Million Meter Embezzlement Investigation
A meter attendant and his spouse have been arrested on allegations of embezzling over €1m from the coin-operated meters of a modest town in Germany.
The unnamed municipal employee is believed to have taken cash from parking meters in Kempten on numerous instances and placed them in bank accounts that his spouse had control over, authorities said in a statement.
A financial crime alert by a credit institution notified authorities to the suspected theft. The attendant has been charged with numerous charges of theft, while his wife is charged with 720 counts of assisting in the crime.
Kempten Mayor Thomas Kiechle expressed he was shocked and dismayed by the allegations.
In October, the Kempten public prosecutor's office were notified that cash was frequently being deposited into multiple accounts, according to sources.
Officers then searched office premises in the early hours of 24 November, the very day that a 40-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman were arrested.
They are now being detained in separate detention facilities.
It is not clear how long it might have taken the pair to accrue the sum.
In reaction to the allegations, the mayor declared the formation of a committee to examine past work processes, identify potential flaws, and reliably remedy them for the future.
Kiechle added that the names of the couple could not at this time be released due to the ongoing probe and confidentiality issues.
In a written statement, the mayor stated: "I certainly support the public prosecutor's office and the law enforcement in their thorough inquiry of the allegations."
"Until the proceedings are concluded, the innocent until proven guilty applies," he continued.
The town is among the oldest settlements in the country. Located in the country's south, it sits under the slopes of the Allgäu and has approximately 70,000 residents.
