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"lateral thinking 711" initiator Ballweg at a rally in May 2020
Photo: Christoph Schmidt / dpa
The founder of the group "Quer Thinking 711", Michael Ballweg, is now in custody after his arrest on Wednesday because of the risk of absconding.
The arrest warrant against someone arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of fraud and money laundering has been enforced, the police in Stuttgart said without naming Ballweg.
However, security circles had already confirmed to SPIEGEL that the 47-year-old was Ballweg.
The police said that during the search of the suspect's house there were concrete indications that he wanted to flee abroad with his assets.
The police said it was still being investigated.
Ballweg is said to have used a six-figure amount improperly for himself
Ballweg is suspected of having raised financial contributions through public appeals since May 2020 and of having misled the donors about the intended use.
He is said to have improperly used a higher six-digit amount for himself.
In April 2020, shortly after the first corona shutdown in Germany, the former IT entrepreneur founded the group "Quermachen 711" - the numbers stand for the Stuttgart telephone area code.
Later, local offshoots emerged nationwide.
The Baden-Württemberg Office for the Protection of the Constitution had already started observing the »lateral thinking« movement at the end of 2020 after the security authorities had identified connections to »Reich citizens« and »anti-state« in parts of the movement.
Lateral thinking 711 was criticized early on for the group's opaque handling of income from merchandising and donations.
The "lateral thinking" lawyer Ralf Ludwig had confirmed the house search at Ballweg on Wednesday on his Telegram channel and described the allegations against Ballweg as "constructed".
The lawyer later wrote that his client was in custody.
A "defense team will comment in due course," said Ludwig.
Other big names in the scene published statements of solidarity with Ballweg and shared photos.
fek/AFP
