Justice stops investigation on Pechtold's apartment

No investigation will be conducted on D66 party chairman Alexander Pechtold. He accepted the gift of an apartment in 2017 and did not mention it in the registry of gifts from the House of Representatives. The prosecution announced Friday no reason to continue the investigation.

At the beginning of the year 2018, more than two hundred people lodged a complaint against Pechtold after he had learned that a former Canadian diplomat, with whom Pechtold would have been friends since that year. he had driven as a student, had given him an apartment of 135,000 euros. According to reports, Pechtold would have been guilty of bribery, an offense, by accepting the gift.

Assessment too low

In addition, the apartment would have been assessed too low and it would have been erroneously established that the Canadian could still use the house, which would have had an influence on the amount of the tax. transfer. But justice came "after studying the documents" to the conclusion "that there is no suspicion of a criminal offense". According to the public prosecutor, it was up to Pechtold and the former diplomat to make arrangements for the use of the house and nothing indicates an appraisal value too low.

In the case of an official offense, the Crown does not have jurisdiction to assess the reports and Jos Silvis, Attorney General of the Supreme Court, has therefore discussed the issue of corruption. After his exploratory investigation, he came to the conclusion that there is "no fact or circumstance that could objectively give rise to the suspicion that Mr. Pechtold accepted the apartment, whereas it was not". he knew or suspected that this gift would be an attempt. to influence him as deputies. "In other words, no corruption either.