A parking inspector and his wife have been arrested on suspicion of embezzling more than a million euros (£878,000) from parking meters in a small German town.
The unnamed municipal employee allegedly removed coins from Kempten’s parking meters “on numerous occasions” and placed them in bank accounts to which his wife had access, local police said in a statement.
A money laundering report drawn up by a credit institution alerted investigators to the alleged theft. The parking inspector was charged with 720 counts of theft, while his wife faces 720 counts of complicity to theft.
Kempten Mayor Thomas Kiechle said he was “stunned and appalled” by the allegations.
In October, the Kempten public prosecutor’s office was informed that cash was being repeatedly deposited into several bank accounts, according to German news agency DPA.
Police then raided the premises in the early hours of November 24, the same day a 40-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman were arrested.
They are now held in separate detention centers.
It is unclear how long it would have taken the couple to accumulate the sum.
In response to these allegations, Kiechle announced the appointment of a commission to “examine past work processes, discover potential weaknesses and reliably remedy them for the future.”
Kiechle noted that the couple’s names cannot be released at this time due to the ongoing investigation and privacy concerns.
In a written statement, Kiechle said: “I naturally support the prosecution and the police in their thorough investigation into the allegations.”
“Until the conclusion of the procedure, the presumption of innocence applies,” he added.
Kempten is one of the oldest settlements in Germany. Located in the south of the country, it lies under the Allgäu hills and has around 70,000 inhabitants.
