Charges against FKK Artemis in Berlin dismissed
The operators of FKK Artemis in Berlin have been in a legal conundrum for more than two years. The State Office of Criminal Investigation has been trying to prove that the sexclub’s owners aren’t operating their business legally since 2016. However, according to recent reports, the trial has ended and all of the charges against the saunaclub have been dismissed by the District Court. Continue reading the article to learn more about the charges and the police raid on Artemis two years ago.
How the FKK Artemis trial started
Two years ago, a police arrest warrant was issued against the owners of FKK Artemis because of suspicion of illegal activities. On April 13, 2016 over 900 police officers and other law enforcers raided Artemis and arrested the two owners and four bartender girls. According to the prosecution, this was supposed to be a huge blow to organized crime and human trafficking. The arrest warrant was issued because of the statements of one girl who used to work in Artemis. As it later turned out in court, this source wasn’t as reliable as the prosecution thought.
After the police raid, the owners of FKK Artemis were accused of numerous charges. The charges were human trafficking, tax evasion and the prosecution also mentioned a connection to organized crime, use of force and exploitation of the prostitutes. According to the prosecution, the owners of the sexclub also evaded €17.5 million in social security contributions.
Due to lack of evidence, the two owners of Artemis have been set free, but only after four months in detention. According to Hakki Simsek, one of the FKK Artemis owners, the time spent in detention nearly destroyed him. In addition to the detention living conditions being poor, all of their business partners and banks turned away. With their reputation ruined, the number of clients plummeted.
The end of the FKK Artemis trial
The prosecution was finally able to submit the indictment, two years after the raid on FKK Artemis. Since there was no indication of the illegal activities that the owners were accused of, all of the charges have been dismissed by the court. Instead of the initial accusations, the prosecution instead focused on the fact that the prostitutes in Artemis have been self-employed for years. Thus the state had missed out on millions of euros in tax revenues.
However, nine months later the Berlin Regional Court had dismissed all of the accusations against the FKK Artemis owners. Since the evidence is non-existent, there won’t be a trial. It is extremely rare that the prosecution’s indictment is so weak that there isn’t even a trial.
Conclusion
The saunaclub’s operator was sued for multiple charges, but none of the accusations turned out to be true. Due to lack of evidence, all of the charges against FKK Artemis have been dropped after two years and further investigations halted. The District Court stated that the prosecution’s charges were inaccurate and misleading.
Today, business is successful for FKK Artemis and they have many girls and clients every day. Of course, the severe accusations didn’t help their reputation, but the business owners managed to get back up. It is speculated that the owner of Artemis will ask for some sort of a compensation for the financial and reputation damages caused by the trial. We will continue to keep our readers up to date on what’s happening with FKK Artemis as new information emerges.