Sponsor just a front man?

Suspected money laundering after AfD donation from Vorarlberg

A few days before the election, allegations of money laundering emerge.

(Bild: AFP)

Five days before the general election in Germany, the right-wing Alternative for Germany party is facing a donation scandal. Specifically, it concerns the multi-million euro poster campaign of a former FPÖ official from Vorarlberg.

According to research by the German news magazine "Der Spiegel" and "Der Standard", it is suspected that Gerhard Dingler acted as a front man for the million-dollar transaction. According to investigations by Austrian security authorities, the businessman allegedly received a "gift" worth millions before his supposed donation to the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) - from real estate billionaire Henning Conle from Duisburg. A few weeks ago, Dingler is said to have presented his bank with a contract stating that he had received a gift of 2.6 million euros from Conle. 

Donor told bank about real estate project
When asked by the bank what the money would be used for, Dingler is said to have initially spoken of a real estate project. But shortly afterwards, 2,349,906 euros went from his account to a billboard advertising company in Cologne. The AfD reported the same sum to the Bundestag administration at the beginning of February.

The German Federal Criminal Police Office and the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence (DSN) have become involved in the case. Among other things, the authorities are investigating suspicions of money laundering. According to German party law, so-called straw man donations, where the identity of the actual donor is concealed, are prohibited.

AfD already had to pay a fine in 2020
If the suspicion is confirmed, the AfD faces a fine for illegal party funding of three times the amount of the illegal donation. In this case, that would be around seven million euros. In 2020, the party of top candidate Alice Weidel was already ordered to pay a fine of 400,000 euros due to a concealed donation from Conle.

A spokesperson for Weidel announced on Tuesday evening that the party and the federal executive committee had had no indication to date that Dingler was just a front man.