German couple admit €1.9 million parking meter theft at trial

A married couple on trial over the theft of nearly €1.9 million ($2.2 million) from parking meters in southern Germany has fully confessed to the charges at the start of proceedings.

“I have disappointed many people. I deeply regret my actions,” the 40-year-old husband told the court in tears at the regional court in Kempten, near the border with Austria.

He said the indictment was correct in all respects. Prosecutors said the former municipal employee siphoned off the funds over a period of a decade with the help of his 39-year-old wife.

The prosecution accuses the couple, who have been in pre-trial detention since November last year, of commercial theft, which carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

The man was responsible for emptying parking ticket machines, and the pair allegedly deposited the coins into private accounts and converted them into supermarket vouchers. 

In 335 cases between 2020 and 2025, they are said to have stolen a total of €1.34 million.

More than 500 additional alleged thefts dating back to 2015 fall outside the statute of limitations and cannot be prosecuted. Nevertheless, authorities are seeking to confiscate the proceeds from those cases as well, amounting to nearly €584,000.