Alternative for Germany donation scandal
The Alternative for Germany donation scandal (German: AfD-Spendenaffäre) was a political scandal that broke in 2018 in which the Alternative for Germany party (AfD) was found to have accepted financial contributions in contravention of conditions within German laws regulating donations to political parties.[1]
In the three months leading up to the 2017 general election the AfD regional office for the Lake Constance area received 18 weekly payments totalling €132,000 documented as "campaign donations for Alice Weidel". Alice Weidel is deputy chairman of the regional party organisation and co-chair of the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag. At the beginning of 2018 they received a further €150,000.[2] These were not declared as required by law and apparently disguised as to their true source and aggregate amount. Further irregular contributions to AfD party politicians were identified, including to Jörg Meuthen, Guido Reil and Marcus Petzell.[3]
According to media reports, the payments came from billionaire property tycoon Henning Conle though several intermediaries and split into smaller amounts. The AfD has been ordered to pay over €500,000 to the federal government, including the illegal sums and penalties.[4]
Timeline
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In May 2015 Alexander Segert, the owner of Swiss advertising company Goal AG, offered an election campaign concept to the chairman of the AfD regional organisation in North Rhine-Westphalia. Goal AG had previously worked for right-wing parties including designing xenophobic poster campaigns for the Swiss People's Party and the Austrian FPÖ.
In October 2015, the then AfD boss Frauke Petry met the real estate billionaire Henning Conle for the first time. Petry later said Conle offered financial support to the AfD but wanted to remain anonymous. In December 2015, both AfD chairmen Frauke Petry and Jörg Meuthen met with Conle again. Conle is now considered a key figure in the donation affair and supported Alice Weidel in the 2017 federal election campaign with hidden donations worth around €130,000.
In March 2016, state elections were held in Baden-Württemberg. The Swiss advertising company Goal AG provided the AfD candidate Jörg Meuthen with posters and brochures worth €90,000. This was later deemed an illegal campaign contribution and the AfD was fined €270,000. In the campaign for Meuthen and other pro-AfD campaigns, Ströer, the poster advertising company, lists Goal AG as an "agency" and the AfD as a "direct customer".
In May 2017, state elections were held in North Rhine-Westphalia. Goal AG supported the AfD candidate Guido Reil with advertising worth €44,000. This was also deemed to contravene law regarding political donations and the AfD was ordered to pay a fine of around €130,000. The media revealed that AfD functionaries received and distributed newspapers from the "Association for the Preservation of the Rule of Law" that advertised for the AfD free of charge. The AfD North Rhine-Westphalia has denied accepting illegal donations from abroad.
In September 2017, right-wing activist David Bendels founded the "Association for the Preservation of the Rule of Law" for AfD supporters. The association is financed by unknown donors. Goal AG managed the association's office. In the federal election campaign and in several state election campaigns, the association published large pro-AfD posters and newspapers such as the "Extrablatt" and the "Deutschlandkurier". Several AfD politicians contributed to the newspapers, but the party denied connections either to the association or Goal AG.[5]
In the ARD summer interview in August 2018, the then AfD chairman Meuthen said that the party had never worked with the "Association for the Preservation of the Rule of Law". He announced a lawsuit against the Bendels-Verein because they continued to advertise for the AfD. David Bendels then founded Conservare Communication GmbH in Hamburg, which has since published the advertising newspaper "Deutschlandkurier".
From September to November 2018, the AfD submitted to the government lists of donors to Meuthen, Reil and Weidel. This was intended to disprove allegations of illegal donations from Switzerland. Some of the donors turned out to be stooges, who accepted benefits in return for being named. In April 2019, the Berlin Public Prosecutor’s Office began investigating the AfD’s treasurer for false statements of account for 2016 and 2017. This related to advertising campaigns by Goal AG and the Association for the Preservation of the Rule of Law.
In July 2021, German prosecutors applied to the European Parliament to have the immunity of MEP Jörg Meuthen lifted because of the donation scandal. Meuthen, Weidel and Reil had failed in court with their attempts to fend off the fines imposed because of the donations from Switzerland.
At the end of September 2022, the Berlin public prosecutor's office raided the premises of the AfD federal office in Berlin. Searches were also carried out in other federal states. The criminal police wanted to secure evidence in the proceedings against former chairman Jörg Meuthen and former federal treasurer Klaus-Günther Fohrmann.[6]
References
- ^ "AfD donor scandal: Weidel under official investigation". Deutsche Welle. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
- ^ Moody, Oliver (16 November 2018). "AfD faces inquiry over foreign donations to Alice Weidel". The Times. Retrieved 3 March 2021. (Subscription required.)
- ^ Henry, Galaxy (16 April 2019). "Germany's AfD hit with hefty fine in donations scandal". Politico. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
- ^ "AfD soll mehr als 500.000 Euro zahlen". tagesschau.de (in German). Norddeutscher Rundfunk. 19 November 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
- ^ "AfD-Spendenaffäre: Neue Belege für Millionen-Wahlkampfhilfe".
- ^ "AfD-Spendenskandal: Durchsuchung bei AfD-Parteizentrale und an weiteren Orten". 28 September 2022.