AWO scandal: Ex-boss sentenced to almost three years in prison for breach of trust!

AWO scandal: Ex-boss sentenced to almost three years in prison for breach of trust!

In the sensational AWO trial in Frankfurt, the regional court has now imposed a prison sentence for the first time, and the details of the conviction are as shocking as they are revealing. Klaus Roth, the former managing director of the security company AWO Protect, was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison without parole for breach of trust and aiding and abetting fraud. This verdict is no coincidence, as the results of the investigation show that Roth was involved in the favoritism of the AWO affair, where he awarded lucrative contracts to friends without considering the legal and moral consequences. The public prosecutor's office had originally asked for three years and six months, but the court reduced the sentence by one month due to the length of the proceedings, reports Hesse show.

In this specific case, an entrepreneur friend received 36,000 euros for an order for new work clothing, and another friend got his money for 20,000 euros in brokerage services that were not provided. These machinations ultimately led to the bankruptcy of AWO Protect in 2020, when the company was tasked with guarding refugee homes. Roth himself expressed regret and wanted to put an end to his actions, but his entanglements did not allow this. The office manager of AWO Protect was also punished and received a suspended sentence of ten months, which makes the entire affair a painful starting point for the AWO, which had already become the talk of the town in 2019 with reports of excessive salaries and fictitious employment.

Incredible threats and methodical intimidation

But it's not just the conviction that makes headlines. Four hours after the verdict was announced, Roth sought the proximity of a journalist who was reporting on the trial. He threatened to take legal action if a photo of him was published. Roth, who from the Frankfurter Neue Presse is considered part of the inner circle of the AWO leadership, feels that he is “not a public figure”, which makes his argument to the media reporting seem somewhat grotesque. In the past, AWO leaders have repeatedly been busy trying to influence reporting on the AWO affair. The shock waves of these threats from Roth are just the tip of the iceberg of a systematic culture of intimidation that points to widespread scandal.

In 2019, Roth even hired a detective to spy on a journalist who was reporting on the irregularities surrounding the AWO. Cost for the not entirely legal machinations: 29,000 euros. It remains unclear whether the detective agency actually provided relevant results.

A dark chapter for the AWO

The problems for the AWO are obvious: the city of Frankfurt is demanding 2.6 million euros back in an ongoing civil case, a sum that makes the difficulties all the more clear. In addition, the main criminal trial against the couple who headed the AWO district associations in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden has not yet started, while public prosecutor Jens Dallmeyer is already expecting further prison sentences for members of the “Inner Circle”, which casts the whole case in a new light. Roth and his accomplices have brought into the mud an entire organization that was known for its social projects and its support of the multicultural society.

The AWO affair will keep the Bavarian and Hesse political landscape busy for a long time. It remains to be seen how the upcoming trials and reporting will influence the perception of this institution.