Berlin trial over alleged sham invoices to city department set to open

A trial over alleged sham invoices billed to Berlin's Senate Department for Urban Development and Housing is scheduled to open at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday at the Tiergarten district court, according to the weekly schedule of Berlin's criminal courts. The defendant faces charges of commercial fraud, breach of trust and bribery. She is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The courts note that hearings can be changed or cancelled at short notice.

According to the indictment, between June and July 2020 the woman, in agreement with a now-deceased official of the department, submitted invoices for services that were never provided. She allegedly withdrew the money paid out, kept a small share and passed most of it to the official. The schedule gives no figure for the damage and lists no further hearing dates.

In June 2025, prosecutors charged two men accused of collecting more than 500,000 euros through fake contractor invoices together with an official of the same department. Those cases came to light in an internal review after the official died in July 2020. The schedule does not say whether the same official is involved.