Fraud charges in Assauer inheritance dispute rejected – court refuses to admit proceedings
The Essen Regional Court has refused to admit fraud charges against Rudi Assauer's daughter and two associates for trial. A further count of charges remains pending.
Essen Regional Court halts fraud trial over Assauer estate
The Essen Regional Court has refused to admit the central fraud charges against Bettina Michel (61), daughter of Schalke football legend Rudi Assauer (†74), for trial before the main hearing. This is reported by BILD citing its own sources. The competent criminal chamber found insufficient grounds for suspicion in the points in question.
Only in May had the Essen public prosecutor's office, following years of investigation, brought charges against Michel as well as Assauer's former secretary Sabine Söldner (66) and former football coach Werner Kasper (74). The allegation: the three allegedly exploited Assauer's progressive Alzheimer's disease to enrich themselves from his assets. Two property transactions with a combined value of 767,080 euros were at the centre of the case. The public prosecutor's office accused the defendants of, among other things, organised and commercial fraud.
The court did not share this assessment after reviewing the case. The judges found insufficient grounds for admitting the charges on these two counts – the planned major fraud trial will therefore not take place for the time being.
Michel's defence counsel Burkhard Benecken (50) spoke sharply to BILD: "The public prosecutor's charge sheet was legally completely insubstantial and quite rightly collapsed like a house of cards." Benecken added: "As is often the case in celebrity proceedings, the celebrity penalty was clearly noticeable here too. My client is relieved and hopes that this reputation-damaging ordeal has now come to an end."
Background: multi-million-euro fortune shrank during dementia years
The case dates back to the time when Assauer was seriously ill with dementia. In 2011, Michel brought her father to live with her in Herten (North Rhine-Westphalia). According to tax records, his assets at that time amounted to approximately 2.3 million euros net. When Assauer died in February 2019, his officially declared estate comprised only a few assets. Investigations subsequently focused on those two property transactions whose associated fraud charges the Essen Regional Court has now refused to admit.
Proceedings not yet fully concluded
For Bettina Michel, the matter is nonetheless not completely settled. The public prosecutor's office additionally accuses her of making false statements under oath about her father's estate in May 2024. This count remains pending according to BILD's information: the Essen Regional Court has not ruled on the substance and considers itself not to have jurisdiction in this part.
In the fraud charges that were rejected, the final word has also not been spoken. The public prosecutor's office has the option of lodging an appeal against the refusal to admit the charges.
Source: BILD