The asylum affair surrounding the Bosnian refugee B. is expanding. The 42-year-old migrant has already been recorded in 147 cases by the police in North Rhine-Westphalia. This comes from a state government paper that FOCUS was able to view online.

Corresponding indications of suspected cases were found in the police information system Viva, it is said. This database links various police IT systems in North Rhine-Westphalia and summarizes, among other things, investigations, reports or traffic accidents.

Suspicion against B.: 80 thefts, 41 gang thefts

What became of the criminal policy findings and whether investigations are currently ongoing remains unclear. The list of B.’s entries reads like a ride through the criminal code: he is said to have been noticed 80 times for possible theft, in 41 cases there was suspicion of commercial gang theft and in four cases of fraud, followed by three cases of suspected particularly serious theft. In addition, there are, among other things, two alleged robberies, as well as an allegation of robbery, two alleged dangerous bodily harm, as well as house break-ins and two alleged resistance to law enforcement officers.

B. did not want to comment on the allegations when asked by FOCUS Online. “Leave me alone,” he said in a phone call Thursday. When asked whether he had a lawyer and whether he would like to provide his contact details, he added: “Forget it.” Then he ended the conversation.

Eight convictions of the Bosnian B.

Criminal police findings such as those in Viva are generally based on suspicions that form the basis for a police complaint or that have become the subject of a criminal police investigation. Such findings generally do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the accuracy of the accusation in question or the result of the final judicial review by public prosecutors and courts.

Given the timing, it can be assumed that for the majority of entries there was no sufficient prospect of successful prosecution. The presumption of innocence applies in all cases until a final conviction is made.

At least some of the police entries appear to have resulted in investigations and criminal proceedings. According to reports, B.’s criminal record shows eight convictions to date. The spectrum ranges from several property crimes to serious gang theft, forgery of documents, evasion of benefits and fraud. The Bosnian was usually sentenced to fines, which apparently hardly impressed him. In 2015, he received ten months probation for theft. Five years later, the probation period expired.

New fraud charges

The Cologne public prosecutor’s office has recently charged the migrant again with fraud at the district court. A year ago, he and an accomplice are said to have staged a scam using voucher cards in three drugstores. The trial was postponed until the new year. B. has denied the allegations.

As reported, the Bosnian who came to Cologne without identification documents was supposed to be deported in 2003. His asylum application was rejected by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) in October 2003 because he was neither persecuted nor threatened in his country of origin. A short time later he was to be deported. At that time, the relevant documents from his home country were also available, according to an official document.

B., however, disappeared without a trace. When he resurfaced in 2007, his lawyer appealed the deportation order, which was dismissed in 2009 after a two-year legal battle. However, the city of Cologne has not applied for replacement passport papers that would be necessary for deportation, according to internal documents. The Balkan state is considered a safe country of origin. As a candidate for EU membership, according to the Federal Office for Refugees and Migration, it does not seem to be a problem to obtain the relevant documents.

Rejected and tolerated: B. and his family received up to 7,000 euros

The rejected asylum seeker has been tolerated in Cologne ever since. And supported by the state with enormous amounts of money. He and his wife have now had eight children. The monthly transfer according to the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act by the Cologne social welfare office amounted to 7,250 euros in autumn 2023. Some of the children are now of age or have received a residence permit for Germany. Since then, the state grants have also been partially paid for through citizens’ money.

Despite repeated requests, the city of Cologne did not want to say how much financial support the family currently receives, citing the personal rights of those affected. Mayor Torsten Burmester also did not answer numerous FOCUS online questions. The SPD politician initially commissioned an internal administrative review of the case. And then let it be known: “The examination comes to the conclusion that the person in question – taking into account the factual and legal situation as well as personal circumstances – currently rightly has a toleration status. This toleration status is regularly checked by the immigration authorities.”

FOCUS online wanted to know, among other things, which department of the city administration examined the case. Whether only the current situation or also the past 17 years of toleration were analyzed? Or whether omissions or mistakes by the Cologne city administration in 2009 played a role in why the deportation did not take place? However, the Mayor of Cologne has not yet answered any of these questions.

Editor’s note: In the original text there was talk of eleven convictions. That is not correct, we have adapted it.