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Brandenburg Green party treasurer vanishes with €40,000

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Brandenburg Green party treasurer vanishes with €40,000
Photo: DPA

The treasurer of the Green party in the eastern German state of Brandenburg has disappeared – along with €40,000 in party funds. Police are now looking for the man, who resigned suddenly just before he and the money went missing.

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State Green party officials said they didn’t want to jump to conclusions when they discovered their accounts were suddenly thousands of euros lighter this week.

But now suspicion is falling firmly on Christian Goetjes, who had served as the Brandenburg chapter's treasurer since 2000 and had access to the accounts before disappearing without a trace.

“We are absolutely shocked,” Annalena Baerbock, co-chair of the state party, told Die Welt.

Goetjes, 33, had turned in his resignation on Monday, giving time constraints as one reason but adding that he wanted to explain his decision personally to the party executive at its next meeting. He never showed up and could not be reached.

As a routine matter, the executive performed a check of the party’s accounts. They noticed several cash withdrawals had been made over the previous days without their knowledge. According to Baerbock, only a small group of people had access to the accounts and all of them have been questioned, except Goetjes.

“Given the facts of the matter, we feel we have to press charges,” Baerbock said.

But Goetjes’ current whereabouts are still a mystery, even to his parents, who have since filed a missing person’s report.

“We have no clue where he might be,” said a police spokesperson.

The Local/kdj

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