The Stadtsparkasse Langenfeld is reviewing private vacation flights by its chief executive Dirk Abel to the Maldives for legality. Abel requested external auditors to eliminate any doubts. The flights are alleged to have been indirectly organized and funded by Wolfgang Reppegather.
The bank is responding to indications that Abel did not pay for the flights for himself and his family. Wolfgang Reppegather is the brother of property developer Uwe Reppegather, with whom the bank previously conducted business.
The two brothers are currently in pretrial detention. Prosecutors accuse them of shifting assets worth a high double-digit million sum before Uwe Reppegather's private insolvency in 2023. The charges include fraud, bankruptcy offenses and breach of trust.
An attorney confirmed to Handelsblatt that Abel himself initiated the external review to clarify the legality of the transactions.