Deep Read: Zwei Häftlinge, eine Scheinwohnung und ein PwC-Legal-Anwalt

In Düsseldorf, Alexander Badle, a once prominent legal scholar from Hessen, had once prosecuted numerous corruption cases within the healthcare sector. As an Oberstaatsanwalt, Badle spent many years investigating health sector fraud before himself becoming a suspect in a bribery case. In July 2020, he was arrested on suspicion of bribery while serving time for a different charge.

Amidst his own legal battles, Badle changed his address. Despite being held in pre-trial detention at the Justizvollzugsanstalt Rohrbach in Rhineland-Palatinate, he signed a form at the residency registration office on January 26, 2023, claiming to have moved to Kurfürstendamm 193 in Berlin.

Badle listed Hanno Berger as his roommate on the residency form. Berger, too, had a past in the legal world. Before changing careers, Berger had served as the highest bank auditor in Hessen before transitioning to become a tax attorney and a central figure in the Cum-Ex scandal. Berger faced sentencing in December 2022, receiving an eight-year prison term for tax evasion totaling €276 million. In the same month, he altered his address from an investigation cell to the same Berlin address as Badle.