German Soldier Gets Refugee Status, Plots Crime to Discredit Asylum-Seekers

The prosecutor's office in the German city of Frankfurt-on-Main detained a 28-year-old first lieutenant of the German army on suspicion of preparing a crime that could possibly discredit refugees.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Die Welt newspaper reported on Thursday that the suspect was detained on Wednesday in the Bavairan town of Hammelburg.

The detainee, who is also suspected of illegally acquiring firearms, applied for asylum as a Syrian refugee in the German town of Giessen in late 2015. He was subsequently granted asylum, shelter and benefits in January 2016. According to the media, during the registration it was not noticed that the "Syrian refugee" was of German descent and did not speak Arabic but only French.

The case is currently being handled by the prosecutor's office in Hessen, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and the military counterintelligence service. To date, 16 searches have been conducted in three countries where the serviceman has visited: Germany, Austria and France.

While the investigation is underway, one theory as to the detainee's motives was that he planned to commit serious crimes using a gun in order to discredit refugees, given that his fingerprints were in the refugee database.