Keel - Suspected money laundering: charges against wife of dead lawyer
The public prosecutor has pressed charges against the widow of a lawyer in Kiel on suspicion of money laundering. Initially, investigations were carried out against the lawyer himself, due to suspicions that he had embezzled at least seven cases of money as a professional trustee, amounting to a total of 240,000 Euro, said Kiel Senior Public Prosecutor Axel Bieler on a Wednesday. Prior to this, media had reported on the charge filing.
However, the lawyer died during the investigations against him at the age of 49. It was discovered during the investigations that the man had previously transferred a total of 10,000 Euro from 18 cases to his wife's account. "We assume that the wife knew that neither she nor her husband had a claim to these funds, yet she spent the money herself, which would then constitute the offense of money laundering," Bieler said.
The judge assigned to the case according to the jurisdiction plan at the Kiel District Court declared herself recused. The court now has to decide on the recusal application, Bieler said. If the court grants this, another judge or judge would have to decide on the indictment against the 41-year-old widow.
Additionally, investigations by the public prosecutor are ongoing regarding a so-called seizure procedure. This concerns the seizure of embezzled funds from the inheritance of the lawyer to return them to the people he had previously represented.
The public prosecutor's office in Schleswig-Holstein is currently investigating a suspicious money laundering case involving a woman in Kiel, following the death of a lawyer suspected of embezzlement. Initially, investigations were directed against the lawyer, Axel Bieler, the senior public prosecutor in Kiel, stated, confirming media reports. He added that the wife of the deceased lawyer stands accused of money laundering, as she reportedly spent funds that were transferred from her husband's embezzled cases. Furthermore, the public prosecutor is conducting ongoing investigations regarding the seizure of embezzled funds from the lawyer's inheritance to return them to his previous clients, further implicating the crime of fraud within the case.
