Adis Ahmetovic added to Hanover probe into Lerte clinic sale

German prosecutors in Hanover have widened an investigation to include Adis Ahmetovic, a Social Democratic Party (SPD) member of the Bundestag and head of the SPD in Hanover, officials said on 9 October 2026. The inquiry, which earlier targeted leading SPD figures in Lower Saxony, now covers Ahmetovic and two other regional SPD politicians in connection with the sale of land belonging to a hospital in Lerte.

Probe linked to contested sale of hospital land

The State Prosecutor’s Office in Hanover has not disclosed the precise allegations against Ahmetovic, saying details could jeopardize the investigation. Media reports indicate his parliamentary immunity has already been lifted to permit the probe to proceed.

According to press reporting, investigators are examining whether competition rules were breached during the sale of land owned by Klinikum Region Hannover (KRH) near Hanover. Two bidders reportedly competed for the property, including a company connected to local investor Gaurav Garg. Prosecutors suspect confidential information may have been passed to one bidder and that the tender, worth several million euros, was improperly influenced. KRH filed a criminal complaint after one company submitted a higher offer shortly before a decisive supervisory-board vote in February despite having previously bid much lower.

Ahmetovic — born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, an MP since 2021 and currently the parliamentary group’s spokesman for foreign policy — rejected wrongdoing through his lawyer, Holger Nitz. Nitz said Ahmetovic "has nothing to accuse himself of" and that the defense immediately contacted prosecutors and offered "full cooperation," but so far has been denied access to case files.

"My client wants full transparency, but the requested access to the files has been denied to us to date," Nitz said, adding that parts of the case files have already reached the public and that prosecutors must explain how that occurred. Prosecutors say they are in contact with the defence.

The investigation has already affected prominent SPD figures: Steffen Krach, formerly head of the Hannover regional council and now SPD group leader in Berlin, is suspected of disclosing business secrets in the tender and of accepting unlawful benefits in two instances. A donation of €9,900 to Berlin SPD late in 2025 from a company run by Garg was also reported; Krach says the money was returned and denies direct contact with Garg or soliciting the donation. During the Berlin election campaign at the end of September, prosecutors searched Krach’s office.

Stefan Police, the former leader of the SPD parliamentary group in Lower Saxony’s state parliament, resigned on 8 October after the regional parliament removed his immunity on 7 October. Police is suspected of facilitating agreements linked to the tender, revealing business secrets and encouraging the granting of benefits; he denies the charges. Ahmetovic is also active in the Hanover SPD, and media have linked his case to the same scheme, but the prosecutor’s office has not confirmed whether it is the identical proceeding. All suspects are presumed innocent.

The affair comes at a sensitive moment for the SPD nationally, which is polling at record lows and sits in a coalition with a federal government led by Friedrich Merz. Problems inside one of the party’s strongest regional organisations — which supplies Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbjl — are an unwelcome development for the party at a difficult political moment.

Photo: press material from the event