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Charges Filed Against Four Suspected Members of a Criminal Organization
On 16 July 2026, the Federal Prosecutor's Office filed charges before the State Protection Senate of the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf against German nationals Mathias B., Peter F., Benjamin M., and Martin S. The accused are suspected of acting as ringleaders in a criminal organization (§ 129 Abs. 1 Nr. 1, Abs. 5 StGB). In this context, Peter F. and Mathias B. are accused of operating an unauthorized deposit business (§ 54 Abs. 1 Nr. 2, § 32 KWG) and, partly jointly with Benjamin M., multiple cases of gang-related document forgery (§ 267 Abs. 1 and 4 StGB). Peter F. is also charged with operating an unauthorized insurance business (§ 331 Abs. 1 Nr. 1, § 8 Abs. 1 VAG), numerous cases of tax evasion (§ 370 Abs. 1 Nr. 2, Abs. 3 Nrn. 1 and 5 AO), withholding wages (§ 266a Abs. 1 StGB), and incitement to these offenses (§ 26 StGB). Mathias B. is alleged to have been an accomplice (§ 27 Abs. 1 StGB) in most of these offenses.
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