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A sign with the logo of Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg stands in front of the television center building.
© Fabian Sommer/dpa
The former head of the board of directors of the public service RBB is to testify before the investigative committee in the Brandenburg state parliament.
But he is missing.
The committee draws strict conclusions.
Potsdam - The investigative committee of the Brandenburg state parliament into the crisis at the public broadcaster RBB wants to have the resigned chairman of the board of directors, Wolf-Dieter Wolf, summoned with coercive measures.
“Unfortunately, I have to say that the witness Wolf-Dieter Wolf, who was invited here at 12.30 p.m. today, did not appear,” said the committee chairwoman, Green Party leader Petra Budke, on Friday in Potsdam.
He didn't come despite being properly summoned.
The committee therefore decided to “apply for coercive measures to the court”.
The ARD broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg was plunged into a deep crisis in the summer of 2022.
The former chief controller Wolf, like the ex-station director Patricia Schlesinger, who was dismissed without notice, is at the center of the allegations of nepotism and waste.
Both denied the allegations.
The Berlin Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating.
The presumption of innocence applies until the case is legally binding.
Wolf had not yet testified before the investigative committee.
Schlesinger expressed her regret to the committee in December but provided no further information.
The committee is supposed to find out how the state of Brandenburg's legal supervision over the RBB took place and whether it was carried out properly.
The AfD had requested the committee.
The dismissed former head of the RBB directorate, Verena Formen-Mohr, rejected on Friday the accusation of a lack of information about the actual costs of the buried multi-million dollar digital media house construction project.
Before a board meeting in March 2022, the former co-head of the steering committee for the project said she had provided information in a template about 125 million euros - the general contractor's offer - while an internal calculation of 188 million euros was already available in November 2021.
“There were a lot of things that were still completely unclear,” Formen-Mohr told the investigative committee.
“The only thing that was clear was the offer from the general contractor.” The total costs had not yet been determined at the time.
According to the broadcaster, RBB editor-in-chief David Biesinger told the committee in January that he was only partially familiar with the financing figures and had only received them on the evening before the board of directors.
Formen-Mohr now said that she also informed Biesinger with a template on March 3, 2022.
He co-led the steering group.
“Everyone knew everything,” said Formen-Mohr.
The former head of department also pointed out that the then director Schlesinger had a limit.
“We always talked about 160 million - and that’s the end of it.” She also said: “I always said that I have nothing to do with finance.” In June 2022, the offer from the general contractor for the media company was decided.
The broadcaster canceled its plans at the end of 2022.
Several managers who were fired because of the RBB scandal took action before the labor court and initially failed.
This also includes Formen-Mohr - she appealed.
dpa