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Thuringian ex-CDU member of the Bundestag Mark Hauptmann
Photo: Christian Spicker / IMAGO
The Thuringian public prosecutor's office has closed the investigation against the former Thuringian CDU member of the Bundestag Mark Hauptmann on suspicion of corruption.
The public prosecutor's office in Jena announced on Thursday that there was no sufficient suspicion required for an indictment to be brought.
The assets of 997,000 euros frozen in the course of the investigation have been released again.
In the course of the so-called mask affair, Hauptmann was accused of arranging corona protective masks and receiving a commission of several hundred thousand euros from a Frankfurt company.
Hauptmann had always denied having enriched himself by selling masks.
The original suspicion against Hauptmann, according to which he had used his Bundestag mandate in the procurement of protective masks to authorities and health facilities, could now be substantiated.
However, the Attorney General's Office was prevented from filing charges for legal reasons.
She referred to similar cases in which both the Munich Higher Regional Court and the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) had decided that the accusation of bribery against two Bavarian politicians was not tenable.
The BGH in Karlsruhe declared that brokering business with protective masks for a commission is not a criminal form of bribery.
til/dpa