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Patricia Schlesinger: The ex-station boss and her former chief controller had recently rejected a too lax approach to the possible collision of interests
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Annette Riedl / picture alliance / dpa
According to research by journalists at the broadcaster, the relationship between RBB director Patricia Schlesinger, who was fired without notice, and the resigned chairman of the board of directors, Wolf-Dieter Wolf, was also private.
If that's true, that could be questionable, because as a member of the board of directors, it was Wolf's job to monitor Schlesinger's work.
According to the media report, Schlesinger, Wolf and his wife met in 2018 in a French gourmet restaurant in Berlin for duck foie gras, steak tartare or lobster risotto.
Schlesinger paid for the evening, on which champagne and Sancerre are said to have flowed – and settled the bill of 328 euros plus tip at the RBB.
“Schlesinger signed the form himself for approval,” the report said.
On another day in 2019, the director and her inspector are said to have eaten together for 252 euros.
This time she did not submit the bill to RBB.
According to the report, Schlesinger's and Wolf's lawyers said nothing about the specific allegations.
Schlesinger's lawyer said that RBB had been asked to release access to their calendar and emails again so that the facts could be checked.
Hotel bookings for thousands of euros?
But that's not all.
The journalists also report on a planned trip to Israel by the two to concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic, of which Schlesinger is a member of the Board of Trustees.
Like Schlesinger, the Wolf couple were supposed to stay in the five-star hotel "American Colony" in East Jerusalem.
A "deluxe Pasha room" with a private terrace and a "junior suite" are said to have been booked via Schlesinger's credit card, at prices equivalent to 1,000 and 1,200 euros respectively for two nights.
Because of the corona pandemic, the trip was finally canceled and a deposit was refunded.
Schlesinger's and Wolf's lawyers have not yet commented on these allegations either.
Most recently, however, the broadcaster boss and chief controller had rejected the fact that they had treated each other too laxly in the event of a possible collision of interests.
The accusations that the inspector and the director of the station were too close are added to the many other allegations that have not yet been clarified.
Schlesinger and other managers are said to have benefited from a questionable bonus system – in addition to an annual salary of more than 300,000 euros.
Even RBB employees who have left the company are said to have continued to receive their salary for years.
There are allegations of controversial consulting contracts for an RBB construction project that has since been put on hold, but it is also about meals with "multipliers" at RBB's expense in Schlesinger's private apartment or a luxurious company car with massage seats, for which there is said to have been a very high discount .
Questionable orders for Schlesinger's husband Gerhard Spörl at Messe Berlin are also being discussed, where Wolf was also head of the supervisory board until his resignation there.
The renovation of the executive floor with chic furniture for 1.4 million euros also caused displeasure.
In addition, a three-day trip to London by Schlesinger and her husband, the ex-SPIEGEL journalist Spörl, to a glamorous charity event is questioned, as is a commissioned production she was responsible for – for which her husband wrote the screenplay.
Apr