German couple jailed for theft of €1.9m from parking meters

A married couple convicted of stealing nearly €1.9 million ($2.2 million) from parking meters in southern Germany have each been sentenced by Kempten Regional Court to five and a half years in prison. 

The court also ordered that the defendants must reimburse the city of Kempten for the full amount of the loss incurred. 

Presiding judge Christoph Schwiebacher pointed out that the two defendants must now expect their assets to be seized for the next 30 years. "The whole thing was not worth it and should not be worth it," he said, while passing sentence.

The defendants were a 40-year-old former employee of the city of Kempten and his 39-year-old wife. 

The employee was tasked with emptying the council’s parking ticket machines and embezzled the takings for more than 10 years. His wife helped him collect the money and deposit it into accounts. She was described in court as "the logistics expert" behind the crimes.

Both admitted to the charges in full and were convicted of more than 300 cases dating back to 2020, resulting in losses of around €1.34 million. 

More than 500 additional alleged thefts dating back to 2015 fall outside the statute of limitations and cannot be prosecuted. Nevertheless, authorities are seeking to confiscate the proceeds from those cases as well, amounting to nearly €584,000.

The man had stated in court that the couple had treated themselves to a life of luxury with the money involving the purchase of horses, cars and expensive clothes. 

The judge stated that the city had made it easy for the defendants to steal the money, which was considered as a mitigating factor when determining the sentence.

The city has since changed the procedures for emptying the machines.