The public prosecutor’s office in Bochum and the State Criminal Police Office of North Rhine-Westphalia have searched Vonovia’s offices because several employees of the group are being investigated on suspicion of corruption, breach of trust and fraud.
A competitor of the group could also have been damaged, as could tenants. Employees had preferred certain companies when placing orders and received money or benefits in return.
The company is fully cooperating with the authorities and has already taken personnel measures.
There has been a raid on Germany’s largest real estate group. The public prosecutor’s office in Bochum and the State Criminal Police Office of North Rhine-Westphalia searched the offices of the Bochum-based Dax company Vonovia on suspicion of corruption. A company spokeswoman confirmed this on Tuesday. According to the public prosecutor, several employees of the group and other parties involved are being investigated on suspicion of bribery and bribery, breach of trust and fraud.
In addition to the Bochum housing giant, a competitor based in southern Germany was also damaged. But tenants could also have been harmed, the tenants’ association of North Rhine-Westphalia fears. The “Westdeutsche Rundfunk” and the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” had previously reported on it.
“We are shaken” – personnel measures have already been taken
“Today, the investigative authorities looked at our documents because Vonovia apparently suspected problematic processes in the awarding of contracts to subcontractors,” said a spokeswoman. As the injured party, the group cooperates fully with the authorities and grants them access to the necessary documents. “We are very interested in a quick and comprehensive clarification of the allegations.” According to the first information, only financial damage was caused, according to the company. People were not harmed, and there was no damage to buildings either.
“We are shaken,” said CEO Rolf Buch. “Apparently, individual employees at our subsidiaries allowed themselves to be bribed to the detriment of Vonovia – that is unacceptable.” The auditing firm Deloitte was commissioned to conduct an independent investigation, the company said. Vonovia has already taken the first personnel measures and will file a complaint against the accused.
Suspicion of corruption weighs heavily
According to the previous investigations by the public prosecutor’s office, employees had given preference to certain companies working for the housing company when awarding the contract and received money or benefits in return in return. Lists of services are said to have been manipulated in order to enable the commissioned companies to bill for services that have not actually been rendered. The accused are said to have divided the money obtained by fraud among themselves. The investigators did not provide any information on the extent of the damage.
After a suspect moved to a southern German housing company, the parties involved are said to have made anti-competitive agreements in tenders there in order to achieve the award of the contract to a specific company. There, too, excessive billings are said to have subsequently occurred.
In total, more than 40 private and business premises were searched on Tuesday as part of the investigations in North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg, Hamburg and Saxony, and four arrest warrants were executed, the public prosecutor reported.
dpa