Overview
- Prosecutors in Erfurt closed the inquiry Friday after Steffen Schütz agreed to pay €5,000 to charities with court approval.
- The office stressed the payment-conditioned closure is not a conviction and said the presumption of innocence still applies.
- The allegation centered on a November 2022 offer by Schütz to host a Thuringian official at his private finca on Mallorca, which the reported recipient did not accept.
- Prosecutors did not name the invitee, and MDR reported that a prior Funke story identified her as former Wartburg chief Franziska Nentwig.
- Under German law, prosecutors may end certain misdemeanors with court and defendant consent if the accused accepts conditions such as a donation.