It is a routine procedure in bankruptcies, the prosecutor explained. A preliminary investigation is now being carried out to determine whether insolvency has occurred. It is not a matter of an investigative procedure.
Every local court always informs the public prosecutor’s office in the event of insolvency. In the case of schlecker, the investigating authority in ulm, which was initially responsible for the case, handed over the task to its colleagues in stuttgart, where the main public prosecutor’s office for white-collar crime is located.
According to spokeswoman krauth, the results are not expected before july. The result could then be that an investigation is initiated, because there is sufficient initial suspicion. On the other hand, the preliminary examination could also show that legally nothing is objectionable. Variant three is that the public prosecutor’s office needs even more time and pushes ahead with the pre-trial even in july.
According to krauth, anton schlecker was able to operate as an individual in the legal form he had chosen, registered businessman (e.K.) can not be prosecuted for a bankruptcy delay. But this does not apply to the subsidiary ihr platz gmbh + co. KG and schlecker XL gmbh. In addition, in the case of anton schlecker – should he actually have been guilty – the criminal offenses of bankruptcy, breach of trust or fraud, which are connected with the delaying of insolvency proceedings, would have applied. All three of these offenses are punishable by up to five years in prison. The bookkeeping in the schlecker area, for example, is now being audited. The public prosecutor’s office also takes a close look at transactions such as the sale of real estate.