Three politicians from Germany’s establishment CDU and SPD parties have been arrested for allegedly taking part in a smuggling network which is believed to have assisted wealthy foreigners—mainly Chinese and citizens of Arab countries—to obtain permanent residence permits illegally, in most cases for six-figure sums.
North Rhine-Westphalia Justice Minister Benjamin Limbach (Greens), in response to an information request on the case submitted by the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) parliamentary group, named Jens Bröke of the center-left SPD and Werner Stump of the center-right CDU as having been arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes from the smuggling network.
The accused, Limbach explained, are said to have “helped a large number of nationals from non-EU and non-Schengen countries to enter and permanently reside in Germany over a long period in return for payments, mostly in the six-figure range.”
Bröke, who works on the SPD’s district board in the town of Düren, formerly served as the SPD’s managing director of the Heinsberg and Euskirchen sub-districts. Stump, on the other hand, previously served as the district administrator in the Rhein-Erft district from 1999 to 2013, and now operates as the co-managing director of the VSH Villa Sophienhöhe Hotel & Restaurant company, which investigators are honing in on.
In 2017, Stump, together with Chinese partners, founded the “German-Chinese Trade OHG,” which in 2020 went on to acquire an almost 95% stake in VSH Villa Sophienhöhe Hotel, the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger reported.
The second CDU politician has so far yet to be named. Apart from the politicians, several lawyers and an employee in the civil service are said to have been involved with the smuggling network, Limbach explained. The accused, the justice minister stressed, are presumed innocent until proven otherwise.
According to Stump’s lawyer Frank Leswal, authorities initially targeted his client because he had “been in contact with one of the main accused lawyers.”
“Our client never had any knowledge or even an inkling of any criminal smuggling activities,” Leswal insisted, adding that Stump is “cooperating with investigative authorities.”
The CDU at this stage has declined to address the accusations against its members, citing ongoing investigations.
The SPD in the Düren district, in contrast, said that it was “shocked by the serious allegations,” and added that it “expects that Jens Bröker will cooperate immediately and fully with the investigative authorities.”
“If the allegations are confirmed, Jens Bröker has no place in the ranks of the Social Democrats,” the party said.
News of CDU and SDU politicians’ alleged involvement in the smuggling network comes less than two weeks after Federal Police and the Düsseldorf public prosecutor’s office conducted large-scale raids across eight German states, searching 200 properties associated with suspected members of the criminal network.
During the sweeps, some 210,000 euros in cash and “extensive evidence” related to the case were seized, police say.
Police have arrested 10 people, while the Düsseldorf public prosecutor’s office has launched investigations against another 170—38 alleged members of the network and 147 believed to have obtained residence permits illegally.