Scary letter from Staatsanwaltschaft

[maxie 602]

The phrasing, if it is really written that way, is indeed weird for a German legal institution. Please take @El Jeffo up on the offer. 

There is a whole lot of info missing, first and foremost what the Strafbefehl was issued for. 

However if it is legit and you want to contest it, it is not enough to tell them that on the phone. You probably need to put it into writing in proper form and with the correct phrasing. Hence the lawyer. 

Also: Did your e-mail to various lawyers include something which might be understood as an order / a release to take action? Then you might want to write those that have not answered quickly to let them know you no longer need assistance to make sure they don't send you a bill at a later date. 

  

[ExPattheDog 37]

20 hours ago, maxie said:

The phrasing, if it is really written that way, is indeed weird for a German legal institution. Please take @El Jeffo up on the offer. 

There is a whole lot of info missing, first and foremost what the Strafbefehl was issued for. 

However if it is legit and you want to contest it, it is not enough to tell them that on the phone. You probably need to put it into writing in proper form and with the correct phrasing. Hence the lawyer. 

Also: Did your e-mail to various lawyers include something which might be understood as an order / a release to take action? Then you might want to write those that have not answered quickly to let them know you no longer need assistance to make sure they don't send you a bill at a later date. 

  

the strafbehel was issued for a penalty order from 2019 that they didnt even notify me of until 2021. this is unfortunately legit. 

 

[jeba 4,349]

To make sure it's not a scam I'd go there in person.

[skinnypuppy 87]

I've taught for a number of law firms here in Berlin and can assure you that these two will be able to provide English-speaking lawyers specialising in labour law:

https://www.dka-kanzlei.de/arbeitsrecht.html (Prenzlauer Berg)

https://grawert.berlin/arbeitsrecht/ (Hackescher Markt)

IHO, an initial consultation fee is worth far more than the €3500 being demanded of you, not to mention the peace of mind.

Act NOW and good luck.

[ExPattheDog 37]

Fascinating update after speaking with a lawyer... it turns out even though its easy to prove a) they never notified me because they sent it to an outdated address I wasnt registered at, b ) the supposed fraud is also easy to prove never happened because my employer can verify it and now even the arbeitsamt agrees, that doesnt change anything

 

so to summarize, in a "free society"

you can be accused of a crime you did not commit at any time

they can charge you with the crime without notifying you, and without the right to appeal or a fair trial 

 

HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE

 

I think I've just lost my right to permanent residence over this since the auslanderbehorde website says you cant get it if you have a fine (mine was for 70 days, if that makes a difference)???

 

I'm completely overwhelmed that my life has been effectively ended because of a fucking PAPERWORK error 

 

I cant go back to my home country either... so when I say life is over... I mean booted from germany and literally my life is over, literally

 

 

[ExPattheDog 37]

On 26/11/2021, 14:28:04, skinnypuppy said:

I've taught for a number of law firms here in Berlin and can assure you that these two will be able to provide English-speaking lawyers specialising in labour law:

https://www.dka-kanzlei.de/arbeitsrecht.html (Prenzlauer Berg)

https://grawert.berlin/arbeitsrecht/ (Hackescher Markt)

IHO, an initial consultation fee is worth far more than the €3500 being demanded of you, not to mention the peace of mind.

Act NOW and good luck.

 

turns out the lawyer was useless

 

this also isnt labor law, but criminal law, and unfortunately with migration law implications

[PandaMunich 16,598]

1 hour ago, ExPattheDog said:

I think I've just lost my right to permanent residence over this since the auslanderbehorde website says you cant get it if you have a fine (mine was for 70 days, if that makes a difference)???

Calm down, anything up to 90 Tagessätze is not a problem: https://migrando.de/erhalte-ich-trotz-vorstrafe-die-niederlassungserlaubnis/

 

1 hour ago, ExPattheDog said:

this also isnt labor law, but criminal law, and unfortunately with migration law implications

Contact this lawyer, he is a "Fachanwalt für Strafrecht" (= specialised in criminal law), knows English and that rarest of things in this specialisation, he is honest: https://www.strafverteidiger-muenchen.info/anwaelte-dms-muenchen/rechtsanwalt-schuetrumpf.html

 

Dr. Matthias Schütrumpf
Fachanwalt für Strafrecht

DMS Rechtsanwälte
Finkenstr. 5 / III
80333 München

Tel.:    +49 (0)89 28 20 14

E-Mail:    muenchen@dms-strafrecht.de
 

He will get it resolved, righting miscarriages of justice is a "thing" with him.

[optimista 5,840]

Has the OP actually had any direct contact with the staatsanswaltschaft since receiving the letters ? Has it been established that it is not a scam ? Starting to feel like this is a wind up.

[ExPattheDog 37]

24 minutes ago, optimista said:

Has the OP actually had any direct contact with the staatsanswaltschaft since receiving the letters ? Has it been established that it is not a scam ? Starting to feel like this is a wind up.

 

I've written them letters to their confirmed address and got letters back - it is unfortunately very real

[ExPattheDog 37]

1 hour ago, PandaMunich said:

Calm down, anything up to 90 Tagessätze is not a problem: https://migrando.de/erhalte-ich-trotz-vorstrafe-die-niederlassungserlaubnis/

 

Contact this lawyer, he is a "Fachanwalt für Strafrecht" (= specialised in criminal law), knows English and that rarest of things in this specialisation, he is honest: https://www.strafverteidiger-muenchen.info/anwaelte-dms-muenchen/rechtsanwalt-schuetrumpf.html

 

Dr. Matthias Schütrumpf
Fachanwalt für Strafrecht

DMS Rechtsanwälte
Finkenstr. 5 / III
80333 München

Tel.:    +49 (0)89 28 20 14

E-Mail:    muenchen@dms-strafrecht.de
 

He will get it resolved, righting miscarriages of justice is a "thing" with him.

 

THANK YOU I will reach out now <3

[ExPattheDog 37]

Updating for those who find it interesting 

 

the Staatsanwaltschaft said in a letter today it makes no difference if I were notified or not, and that it is still legally binding 

 

the lawyer the above commenter recommended also said it might not be possible to do anything now, even though there was no crime

 

so yes, our system is very very broken 

 

I should also mention another horrendous experience I had with the Arbeitsamt at the start of my unemployment in 2018... even though I was legally entitled to ALG1 I was initially denied it because the person at the counter refused to process my claim because I wasn’t German 

 

so yea the system is fucked 

 

 

[PandaMunich 16,598]

6 minutes ago, ExPattheDog said:

the lawyer the above commenter recommended also said it might not be possible to do anything now, even though there was no crime

But he will try to help, won't he?

[ExPattheDog 37]

9 minutes ago, PandaMunich said:

But he will try to help, won't he?

Yes but it seems unlikely anything can be changed 

 

so effectively my earlier post that even without committing a crime it’s possible to be accused of one and denied any legal right to defend oneself is still the case... which is disheartening 

 

i thought Germany was a free society but after learning it’s possible to be denied the right to a fair trial I’m not so sure 

 

especially after reflecting on the past discrimination I’ve faced as an Ausländer, I’m realising the free Germany I’ve grown to fall in love with doesn’t actually exist 

 

kind of insane one can pay almost 50% of income in taxes for 5 years and abide by the law but still get treated like “dirty criminal foreign scum” 

[ExPattheDog 37]

On 02/12/2021, 17:10:14, PandaMunich said:

Calm down, anything up to 90 Tagessätze is not a problem: https://migrando.de/erhalte-ich-trotz-vorstrafe-die-niederlassungserlaubnis/

one potential issue is, the time period I was unemployed I wasn’t working in specifically because I didn’t have my visa yet. So one potential knock on effect of this is, based on the claim of the Staatsanwaltschaft that I was fined for working on ALG1, is it would mean I was also working here illegally— which, obviously I wasn’t doing and now even the Arbeitsamt recognises that after they checked with my former employer. 
 

So regardless of the number of Tagessätze, if agencies communicate with each other in this bizarre ways (Arbeitsamt bringing it to the Staatsanwaltschaft in 2019, but not giving them a correction in 2021) it could have a knock on effect if they speak to the Ausländerbehorde 

 

I’ve also reached out to a migration lawyer just in case 

 

I’m so mad at my former employer for this paperwork mistake. It looks like it will cost me €5,000 at least between fines & lawyer fees and has been insanely stressful considering the threats and overall risks