A parking inspector and his wife have been arrested on suspicion of embezzling more than €1m (£878,000) from parking meters in a small German town.
Local police said in a statement that it is believed that the unnamed municipal employee removed coins from parking meters in Kempten “on several occasions” and placed them in bank accounts to which his wife had access.
A money laundering report from a credit institution alerted investigators to suspected theft. The parking inspector has been charged with 720 counts of theft, while his wife has been charged with 720 counts of aiding and abetting theft.
Kempten mayor Thomas Keechle said he was “shocked and disappointed” by the allegations.
According to German news agency dpa, the Kempten public prosecutor’s office was informed in October that cash was being deposited repeatedly into several bank accounts.
Police then searched the office premises on the morning of 24 November, arresting a 40-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman on the same day.
Now they are being kept in different detention centres.
It is unclear how long it took the couple to earn this amount.
In response to the allegations, Kitchle announced the appointment of a commission to “review past working processes, highlight potential weaknesses, and provide credible solutions to them for the future.”
Keechley said the couple’s names cannot be released at this time due to the ongoing investigation and privacy concerns.
In a written statement, Keuchle said: “I naturally support the public prosecutor’s office and the police in a thorough investigation of the allegations.”
“The presumption of innocence will continue to apply until the proceedings are completed,” he said.
Kempten is one of the oldest settlements in Germany. Located in the south of the country, it lies beneath the hills of the Allgäu and has about 70,000 inhabitants.
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