Parking inspector and wife arrested for €1m meter theft

A parking inspector and his wife have been arrested on suspicion of embezzling more than €1 million (£878,000) from the parking meters of a small German town.

Local police said in a statement that the unnamed municipal employee is thought to have taken coins from parking meters in Kempten “many times” and placed them in bank accounts accessible to his wife.

A credit agency money laundering report alerted investigators to suspected theft. The park superintendent is charged with 720 counts of theft, while his wife faces 720 counts of aiding and abetting theft.

Kempten Mayor Thomas Kiechle said he was “stunned and appalled” by the allegations.

According to the German news agency DPA, in October the Kempten prosecutor’s office was informed that cash was constantly being deposited into various bank accounts.

Police then searched the office building in the early hours of November 24, where a 40-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman were arrested.

They are currently being held in separate detention facilities.

It is unclear how long it will take for the couple to collect the amount.

In response to the allegations, Kiechle announced the appointment of a commission to “review past business processes, uncover potential weaknesses and reliably fix them for the future.”

Kiechle noted that the couple’s names cannot be released at this time due to the ongoing investigation and privacy concerns.

In a written statement, Kiechle said: “Naturally, I support the prosecutor’s office and the police’s thorough investigation into the allegations.”

“The presumption of innocence is valid until the trial is concluded,” he added.

Kempten is one of the oldest settlements in Germany. Approximately 70,000 people live in this region, located under the Allgäu hills in the south of the country.