A municipal parking inspector and his wife have been detained after investigators say more than €1 million was taken from parking meters in the Bavarian town of Kempten.
Authorities allege the inspector repeatedly emptied coins from meters and funneled the cash into bank accounts accessible to his spouse.
A bank alerted police after spotting a pattern of unusual deposits, prompting a money-laundering notification.
Prosecutors have accused the inspector of 720 counts of theft.
His wife faces 720 counts of aiding and abetting, the local public prosecutor’s office said.
Police carried out searches of municipal offices in the early hours of 24 November and arrested the couple the same day.
The man, 40, and the woman, 38, are being held in separate detention facilities while the inquiry continues.
Kempten’s mayor said the allegations came as a shock and announced an independent review of municipal procedures to identify and fix any weaknesses.
He also said the city will cooperate fully with investigators and reminded the public that the suspects are innocent until proven guilty.
Kempten, one of Germany’s oldest settlements, lies in the Allgäu region of the south and has roughly 70,000 residents.
Local officials have not released the suspects’ names because the investigation is ongoing and privacy rules apply.
