Vor Berlin-Wahl: Berliner SPD-Spitzenkandidat weist neue Vorwürfe zurück

Berlin SPD candidate and party leader Steffen Krach faces new allegations from the State Prosecutor's Office in Hannover. He was accused of requesting party donations twice from an entrepreneur during a procurement procedure, as well as potentially misusing confidential business information during the sale of an asset during his tenure as President of the Region Hannover.

The 47-year-old affirmed that the accusations were unfounded. "I emphatically refute them," he stated. "I am very confident that the baselessness of the accusations will be proven by the investigative authorities." The Hannover State Prosecutor's Office only disclosed the initial suspicion of advantage-taking in two cases on Thursday evening.

They are also investigating allegations of restrictive competition practices in procurement tenders in connection with the violation of business secrets and the violation of the duty of confidentiality. The presumption of innocence applies. Recent polls show Krach's SPD struggling in the Berlin parliament elections on September 20th, placing fifth with 10-12 percent.

The Left leads with 21-23 percent, followed by the CDU (20-21 percent), the AfD (17-18 percent), and the Greens (16 percent). The Hannover State Prosecutor's Office has been investigating Krach since September 3rd, just 11 days before the election. They searched his Berlin apartment, office spaces in Hannover, and the central office of the Berlin Landes-SPD, seizing data storage media and his mobile phone.

These have since been evaluated. The prosecutor's office announced on Thursday evening which legal accusations they bring against Krach. One relates to a donation from an entrepreneur to the Berlin SPD Land Association, which was allegedly requested twice during a regulatory procedure. The other involves allegedly improperly disclosing a bid offer as a business secret in connection with a tender procedure for an asset.

All accusations are unfounded, Krach insisted. The entrepreneur was elected Regional President of Hannover in 2021 and was subsequently asked to become the SPD's top candidate for the Berlin parliament election. He resigned from his duties in Hannover in March 2026. When the investigations were made public, Krach had already rebutted several accusations, claiming they related to a procurement procedure for the reuse of a clinic grounds in Lehrte near Hannover.

He was the chairman of the clinic's supervisory board at the time. Krach suggested that the bid from one company was superior to the other's. However, the supervisory council decided otherwise and awarded the contract to the second company. Krach claimed to have abstained from the vote. The entrepreneur has not commented on the donation issue.

The party has denied the accusations, as has Krach. The SPD only solicits donations from Berlin members via mail, emails, or social media, according to the party. The entrepreneur, based in Lower Saxony, was not a Berlin SPD member. It is unclear if he received such appeals. Krach maintained that no personal contacts were made during the procurement process and denied accusations of sharing information from the bid procedure.

The Hannover State Prosecutor's Office confirmed they are investigating an entrepreneur related to the clinic's post-merger, conducting searches in May. However, they do not connect this to the accusations against Krach and have no information on the total number of accused in the case.