CDU member of the Bundestag Karin Strenz has died. The 53-year-old collapsed on the return flight from Varadero in Cuba to Frankfurt, said the spokesman for the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania regional group, Eckhardt Rehberg, told the German press agency.
Due to the medical emergency, the pilot of the Boeing 767-300 decided to make an unscheduled landing at Shannon Airport, Ireland. From there, the politician was flown to Limerick University Hospital, according to the Irish news portal “The Clare Herald”. But the medics couldn’t help her anymore. An acute heart problem is suspected. An autopsy should provide clarity. According to Rehberg, Strenz was traveling with her husband.
The politician had been a member of the German Bundestag since 2009 and retained her mandate when she was last suspected of corruption. Among other things, she sat on the Defense Committee. In addition to the mandate, she worked as a consultant.
According to Deutsche Welle, at the end of January 2020, the Bundestag lifted Karin Strenz’s immunity at the request of the Frankfurt am Main public prosecutor’s office. As a result, there were house searches of the CDU politician and the former CSU parliamentarian Eduard Lintner in connection with the flow of money from the authoritarian ruled Azerbaijan.
The Frankfurt public prosecutor spoke of around four million euros that flowed through British mailbox companies and Baltic accounts between 2008 and 2016. Bribery and money laundering were being investigated.
