A Hansa Rostock club employee tampers with the safe. And steals an unusually large sum. But: at first nobody knows where the money came from.
A club employee has stolen around 100,000 euros from a safe at football club Hansa Rostock. The sensational case from the spring of 2023 has only now become public thanks to a report in the "Ostsee-Zeitung". As a spokeswoman for the Rostock public prosecutor's office confirmed in response to a dpa inquiry, the perpetrator is a 28-year-old man who has since been convicted by the Rostock district court.
According to the newspaper, the employee had admitted to stealing the large sum from a safe at the office via his lawyer and had spent the money in full. At the time of the theft, Hansa was still part of the 2nd Bundesliga.
Employee had the key to the safe
According to the public prosecutor's office, the thefts allegedly took place between September 2022 and May 2023. The employee had a key to the safe. The club confirmed the facts of the case when asked by dpa, but did not want to comment publicly.
But where did so much cash come from? According to the report, the club management around the then CEO Robert Marien knew nothing about the sum and were shocked. The money is said to have been a donation from a Hansa member, which was initially kept in the safe without the knowledge of the board. The public prosecutor's office could not confirm whether it was exclusively the donation of a member.
Hansa is said to have initially not pressed charges and relied on the perpetrator to pay in installments. According to the "Ostsee-Zeitung", this did not work out, so charges were filed after all. In January of this year, the Rostock district court declared the penalty order legally binding. The court sentenced the perpetrator to a year's suspended prison sentence. The man has to pay back the money.
