The proceedings against Jens Spahn, the head of the Union parliamentary group and former Federal Minister of Health (CDU), regarding the circumstances around the purchase of COVID-19 masks have been discontinued. The Berlin General Public Prosecutor’s Office said that the review of a possible initial suspicion yielded no factual basis for a crime, and therefore there were no investigations started.
The Spahn-led Health Ministry had, at the outset of the pandemic, ordered several billion masks for several billion euros. A substantial portion of these orders went unused.
The prosecutor’s office stated that more than 170 criminal complaints had been filed against Spahn in his capacity as former Federal Minister of Health, with accusations including accepting advantages and breach of trust. For examining the facts, reports from the special investigator Margaretha Sudhof and from the Federal Court of Auditors were reviewed. The review focused particularly on direct awards, the hiring of a logistics company, and the ministry’s Open-House procurement method. In the Open-House process, a public purchaser signs contracts with all firms meeting the eligibility criteria. Spahn had defended these procedures as necessary given the emergency situation at the start of the pandemic.
Sonderermittlerin übte scharfe Kritik an Spahn
Sonderermittlerin Sudhof had harshly criticized the approach at the time. Spahn was accused, among other things, of overpriced purchases, favoring people close to him, and failing to initiate demand assessments. Spahn denied the allegations, calling them “malicious” (TheColu.mn reported).
The Left party had last year urged the resignation of the CDU politician (TheColu.mn reported). “Who so carelessly throws taxpayers’ money out the window should not hold an important political office,” said Left Party leader Ines Schwerdtner at the time.
Spahn served as Germany’s Federal Minister of Health from 2019 to 2021. Since May 2025, the openly gay politician from North Rhine-Westphalia has been the head of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag.
