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Teldafax trial resumes

January 26, 2015

Senior executives for Teldafax were first brought to a district court in Bonn last year, after allegations of concealing evidence. Following a year-long recess, the court has recommenced hearings in the case.

https://p.dw.com/p/1EQWB
Teldafax executives in court in Bonn
Image: picture alliance/dpa/O. Berg

The trial against three former managers of the independent utilities discounter Teldafax resumed on Monday, putting an end to a nearly year-long suspension.

Last February, Teldafax's former senior executives, Klaus Bath, Gernot Koch and Michael Josten, had stood before a Bonn district court and were facing charges of delayed filing for insolvency, unlawful bookkeeping and organized fraud to cover up a bankruptcy.

But shortly after the start of the trial, the hearings went into hiatus because the court declared itself not responsible for the case.

Allegations against the Teldafax managers included concealing evidence and continuing business despite the company being bankrupt until 2011 at the expense of its roughly 700,000 customers, who lost an estimated 500 million euros ($563 million). Those customers had made payments in advance for services they then did not receive.

In 2011, Teldafax, Germany's largest independent utility at the time, had gone bust as accusations surfaced about questionable accounting practices and the company's practice of rapidly attracting new customers to stay afloat.

It is one of the biggest insolvencies in German corporate history.

el/ng (AFP, dpa)