Frankfurt’s Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann (SPD) has to go to court on suspicion of accepting an advantage. As the Frankfurt district court announced on Monday, a corresponding charge by the public prosecutor’s office was admitted.

The regional court in Frankfurt am Main has opened main proceedings against the controversial mayor of the Main metropolis, Peter Feldmann (SPD), for corruption. The prosecutor’s charge of taking advantage was approved, the court announced on Monday. However, dates have not yet been determined.

In March, the public prosecutor’s office brought charges against the 63-year-old in connection with allegations of fraud and excessive salaries at Arbeiterwohlfahrt (AWO). Feldmann’s partner at the time and later wife is said to have received too much money as the head of a German-Turkish daycare center. The indictment accuses Feldmann that this employment relationship was closed from 2014 due to his position as mayor.

In the 2018 election campaign, the Frankfurt AWO is said to have supported Feldmann by raising donations. In return, he had tacitly agreed with the person in charge of the district association at the time that the interests of the AWO Frankfurt would be “benevolently” taken into account when he carried out his duties. According to the public prosecutor, the proceedings against Feldmann’s former wife, from whom he is now separated, and against those responsible for AWO were separated.

It was only on Wednesday that Feldmann again rejected calls for his resignation after several public missteps. He just wants to largely do without representative public appointments until the end of the summer break. After demands for his resignation from the SPD city association, he offered his party to suspend membership. Several factions in Frankfurt’s Römer threatened to initiate voting procedures against the mayor if necessary. However, the hurdles are high.