German Public Broadcaster Hit By Scandal as Director Resigns, Police Probe Embezzlement Allegations
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Loading... - Benci Kiraly
- 02 Nov 2022
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German public broadcaster RBB has been rocked by a scandal surrounding its former director, Patricia Schlesinger, who is accused of embezzlement and misuse of her position as head of the Berlin-based media group, which is financed by German taxpayers.
Schlesinger resigned from her post on Sunday. On Monday, Berlin’s public prosecutor confirmed it had opened an investigation into accusations Schlesinger embezzled RBB funds to support her lifestyle, including getting the network to pay for lavish dinners at her home and financing her private use of a luxury company car. Wolf-Dieter Wolf, chairman of the board at RBB, who has been linked with some of the accusations leveled at Schlesinger, also tendered his resignation on Sunday. Both deny the charges against them.
Schlesinger, who was on a $308,000 (€307,000) annual salary at RBB, is accused of using the German public broadcaster to bankroll a lavish lifestyle for herself and her ex-husband, the Spiegel journalist Gerhard Spörl. Among the allegations, many of which have been revealed in explicit detail in the German media, are that Schlesinger regularly hosted exclusive dinners at her home for prominent guests, getting RBB to pick up the bill, and that she pushed through a $662,000 (€650,000) luxury renovation of her office – all while cutting jobs and programming costs at her network. Read More...
