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Senegalese customs inspector at Dakar airport
Photo: Sadak Souici / imago images
What a mess: It was almost three years ago that the Frankfurt public prosecutor and the police moved into the corporate headquarters of the airport operator Fraport and disappeared a few days before Christmas with thousands of documents in which they suspected evidence of a bribery scandal and political thriller.
At that time the accusation made waves.
Now, three years later, the all-clear for the listed MDax group.
According to information from manager magazin, the Frankfurt am Main public prosecutor's office is terminating the proceedings.
The investigators had been investigating the suspicion of bribery against eight suspects since April 2013 and had also brought proceedings against Fraport AG for an administrative offense.
The accused are said to have bribed the then Special Advisor to the President of the Republic of Senegal and later Minister of Transport of the African country between 2006 and 2012.
The politician is said to have received shares in a Luxembourg company which it is said to have given the concession to operate the new airport in the capital Dakar through a subsidiary in Senegal.
The initial suspicion was based on an anonymous criminal complaint.
"After the extensive investigation was carried out, however, the public prosecutor was of the opinion that bribery could not be proven with the certainty required to bring charges," said a spokeswoman.
The suspicion therefore stood against the fact that possible breaches of duty could not be proven in the award of the license and are already statute-barred.
In addition, it was not possible to prove to the Senegalese minister, who left office in 2012, whether he continued to benefit Fraport AG after the contract was signed on December 19, 2006.
The suspected Fraport managers were also executives, but not members of the Executive Board.
In 2007, Fraport announced that it had won an international tender to operate the capital's airport in Senegal.
The contract was for a term of 25 years.
In 2015, however, Fraport withdrew from the contract.