Investigation into AfD politician Bystron: 34,000 euros from a pro-Russian network? | Petr Bystron is being investigated on suspicion of bribery and money laundering. According to Tagesspiegel research, large deposits and withdrawals to a company account came to light.

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1. >The Jakob-Kaiser-Haus, a building of the Bundestag, presented an unusual picture on Thursday morning: police and prosecutors searched the office of AfD MP Petr Bystron. The Munich Public Prosecutor General’s Office is investigating him “on initial suspicion of corruption of elected officials and money laundering”, according to a spokesperson for the authority.
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   >The allegations relate to possible payments by a pro-Russian network that operated the “Voice of Europe” news portal in Prague, among others.
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   >The public prosecutor’s office had previously conducted preliminary investigations into the Bystron case in order to check whether there was any initial suspicion against the MP. The fact that the public prosecutors have now initiated an investigation shows that they believe there is sufficient evidence to justify such suspicion. The AfD MP did not comment on Thursday, but had previously denied the allegations.
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   >According to Tagesspiegel information, Bystron is said to have received more than 34,000 euros in cash and cryptocurrency. The public prosecutors apparently see indications that there could be a so-called wrongful agreement between Bystron and the pro-Russian portal “Voice of Europe”.
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   >Such an agreement would include a possible consideration by a mandate holder for payments made or promised. It is a prerequisite for a member of parliament to be prosecuted under Section 108e of the German Criminal Code for bribery of elected officials.
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   >As the Tagesspiegel found out, investigators discovered that on 20 March last year, Bystron paid 30,000 euros into the account of a company of which he is the sole shareholder and managing director. The company in question is Lendvay GmbH, based in Munich. Bystron’s official business purpose in 2004 was the “manufacture, repair and sale of leather shoes”.
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   >The company had emerged from an advertising agency that Bystron had founded with a partner a few years earlier. Lendvay is said to have had no significant business activities in recent years.
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   >On the same day that Bystron paid the money into his company, he is said to have withdrawn it again, in 200-euro notes, according to information from the Tagesspiegel. The investigators are now apparently basing their initial suspicion of money laundering on this transaction.
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   >In addition to Bystrong’s Bundestag office, investigators from the Bavarian State Office of Criminal Investigation and representatives of the Munich Public Prosecutor General’s Office searched homes and offices in Munich, other locations in Bavaria and on Mallorca. A tax consultant’s office was also among the properties searched.
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   >In order to authorise investigations against a member of parliament, the Bundestag first had to waive Bystron’s immunity. As a rule, such decisions are taken unanimously. When CDU MP Axel Fischer was also accused of bribery in 2021, his parliamentary group also voted in favour of waiving his immunity. In the Bystron case, however, the AfD abstained on Thursday, while all others voted in favour.
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   >Czech security authorities had uncovered a pro-Russian network centred around Putin confidant Viktor Medvedchuk. The government in Prague spoke of a Russian influence operation in Europe.
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   >The alleged news portal “Voice of Europe” was used for this purpose, through which payments to several European politicians were allegedly made. When Michal Koudelka, head of the Czech intelligence service BIS, informed the government in Prague in March about the findings of his service, he is said to have explicitly mentioned the name Bystron, according to a report in the newspaper “Dennik N”.
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   >Bystron is in second place on his party’s list for the European elections. Two preliminary investigations are underway against AfD top candidate Maximilian Krah at the public prosecutor’s office in Dresden: One case is about possible payments from Russia, the other about possible payments from China. Krah’s colleague in the European Parliament was arrested on suspicion of acting as an agent for China.

   *Translated with DeepL.com (free version)*

2. Imagine selling out your country for half a BMW. These guys are total facepalm.

3. Is it weird that I find it kind of depressing by just how cheaply these scumbags can be bought to sell out their own countrymen?

4. At this point, can’t we just outlaw these far-right parties for being Russian assets, which they clearly are?