Trial against ex-media markt manager begins
However, the accusations, including those against the former head of media-markt germany, michael rook, are well known: rook, who was born in 1964, and a former regional manager of the electronics retailer are alleged to have been bribed for years by a businessman who is also on trial – around five million euros are said to have been paid in the process.
The public prosecutor’s office accuses the media-markt managers of having lent the owner of a marketing agency exclusive contracts for his companies in exchange for money, although the competition had submitted better offers. The bribe money had flowed between july 2005 and october 2011. According to the public prosecutor’s office, rook and the regional manager used employees of the marketer as external sales staff for DSL contracts in media markt stores. The charge is commercial and gang-related bribery or commercial bribery.
Rook had always denied this. His lawyer, michael rosenthal, said on the sidelines of the trial: "he has not received any money."His client had the impression that the judges were biased. In the two motions for recusal, the defense argues that the judges, in preliminary talks with individual defendants, had held out the prospect of a certain punishment in the event of confessions. In doing so, they may have provoked false statements from the defendants. But the court has already rejected one of the two motions for partiality.
A total of six mannered persons are sitting in the dock in the proceedings. The charges against three other alleged participants will be heard separately. After the first application, the meeting was interrupted on wednesday.
According to media reports, rook suffered a defeat in court at the end of may. He sued, among other things, against his dismissal as head of media-markt, but failed in this case before the chamber of commerce of the ingolstadt regional court. The court considered there to be sufficient grounds for suspicion. Rook was suspended in october 2011 in connection with the affair.
