PressSplit
The former pastor of the Eime parish is again represented by lawyer Hans Holtermann and accompanied into the courtroom by his wife. © Larissa Zimmer
Eime/Hildesheim – It was like déjà vu, except that the situation actually repeated itself: Today, Thursday, August 1st, the trial of the former Eimer pastor and his fraud and forgery of documents was opened for the second time at the Hildesheim Regional Court. Only this time, not the ninth, but the first major criminal chamber is conducting the trial. After the Federal Court of Justice did not question the judgment of December 1st, 2021, but found formal errors in the proceedings, the criminal case was referred back to the Regional Court for a new trial. 32 days of trial until the end of January 2025 are scheduled for this. Attorney Hans Holtermann, who already represented the defendant in the first trial, announced that his client will comment on the matter next Monday, August 5th, when the trial will resume at 9 a.m.
As a reminder: On December 1, 2021, the ninth criminal division of the Hildesheim Regional Court, chaired by Judge Karin Kuhlmann, sentenced the former pastor of the Eime parish to one year and eight months in prison, suspended for three years on probation. Based on an agreement between the prosecution and the defendant, the then 63-year-old was found guilty of 44 counts of commercial fraud in conjunction with commercial forgery of documents. In addition, the defendant was to pay a remaining amount of just over 20,000 euros, as well as the prosecution costs and his own expenses. After the verdict was announced, the defendant appealed, which has now resulted in a new trial. The Federal Court of Justice made this decision in March last year.
