Five years of free time and a full salary for it: That’s exactly how a senior civil servant in Rhineland-Palatinate is said to have handled it. The man from Betzdorf-Gebhardshain was employed by Mayor Bernd Brato (SPD) in a staff position created especially for him in the area of construction and planning. However, he didn’t work in the five years he spent there. In total, this is said to have caused damage of around 350,000 euros.
The extremely unusual incident is currently being investigated by the municipal supervisory authority of the Altenkirchen district. According to the allegations, the official is said to have worked exclusively from home for the past five years. He received a full salary, but according to the municipal supervisory authority, he did not have any tasks to complete. How and why this fact only became apparent so late is currently being examined.
Several employees of the municipality and Mayor Brato are currently being questioned about the case. The focus of the investigation is the decision to transfer the employee to a new staff position. A possible accusation: The officer was simply sidelined for unknown reasons.
In that case, his boss, Mayor Bernd Brato, would be responsible and, according to the local authority supervisory authority, would also have to pay for the damage caused in the amount of 350,000 euros. It is currently not clear whether he would have to pay the entire amount or only part of the sum.
According to the supervisory authority, the employee himself does not face any consequences. He would have made his labor available, but would not have been given any tasks to complete. The first results of the investigation are expected in January.
According to several media outlets, Mayor Bernd Brato did not want to comment on the case at the moment. He justified this to Südwestrundfunk by saying that it was an ongoing procedure.
Sources: SWR, T-Online
