A member of a bank in Germany called Volksbank Koeln Bonn is going to leave the bank, even though a law firm checked and found no wrongdoings related to a big loan for a large brothel in Europe.
The bank said on Tuesday that they asked the law firm to look into a loan they gave during the COVID time to help buy a building in Cologne where the brothel is. The law firm found no proof that anyone did anything wrong with the loan or the bank’s business. But the bank said they can’t trust the person anymore, so they asked him to take a break from his job.
The person, Juergen Neutgens, said he didn’t do anything wrong, and his lawyer didn’t answer questions about it that day. The problem started with a loan of €5 million (about $5.6 million) in 2021. The loan helped buy a tall building after the brothel inside it ran into money problems during the COVID lockdowns.
The bank’s investigation also looked into whether Neutgens personally gained from the deal, because prostitution is legal in Germany. In August, news reports said police in Cologne started their own investigation into Neutgens and two other bank workers, suspecting they might have taken bribes. The police didn’t say what they found yet.
The bank’s regulator, called BaFin, also asked questions about the loan for the brothel. Volksbank Koeln Bonn is a special kind of bank owned by its members. These banks usually don’t lend money to people from other countries or do business that might hurt their good name.
