Investigation into Employees of JVA Rheinbach: NRW Justice Minister Limbach Tightens Controls

Background of the Investigations

According to Justice Minister Limbach, the investigations had been set in motion by a complaint filed by the facility's management. The internal control mechanisms had shown effect, Limbach said at midday in Düsseldorf. The Green politician expressed that he was "betroffen und wütend" about the allegations. He announced: "Wir werden jeden Stein umdrehen und lückenlose Transparenz schaffen." At the same time, he warned against placing the honest majority of employees under general suspicion.

Investigators described the specific suspicion against the employees in Rheinbach as follows: prohibited items such as cell phones and narcotics were allegedly handed to the staff outside the prison walls by relatives or acquaintances and subsequently smuggled into the JVA. In return, the employees are said to have received payments. During a search of one property, a targeted search for narcotics was conducted, according to dpa information; overall, the measures aimed to secure cell phones, documents, and further evidence.

Specific Allegations Against the Staff

As an immediate consequence, Limbach ordered that, effective immediately, bag checks be carried out on staff at all North Rhine-Westphalian correctional facilities. The tightened controls served to protect the "tadellosen Ruf" of the honest majority of employees, the minister explained. He was aware that "dass das ein harter Einschnitt ist" for the workforce. With this, Limbach drew on a model that had already been applied following the incidents at JVA Euskirchen.

Political Reaction: Tightened Controls

At the same time, Limbach initiated a special audit of JVA Rheinbach. He intends to inform the Landtag's Legal Affairs Committee about the current state of the investigations on Wednesday. The special audit follows the pattern of the measures that had been launched after the investigations against employees of JVA Euskirchen, which also became known this month.

Special Audit and Notification of the Landtag

At JVA Euskirchen, which is also located in North Rhine-Westphalia, investigations have been underway since the beginning of May 2026 over comparable allegations. There too, employees are said to have granted prisoners easier conditions in exchange for monthly payments and warned inmates before inspections — so-called "Bestechungsabonnements" according to media reports. As police emphasized, there is no connection between the proceedings in Euskirchen and those in Rheinbach at this point.

Second Corruption Case Within a Few Weeks

Two electronic master keys had also disappeared from JVA Euskirchen, whose whereabouts had remained unresolved until recently. In the Euskirchen proceedings as well, several employees of the facility are accused, alongside current and former inmates. The investigations in Rheinbach thus represent the second corruption case within a few weeks at a North Rhine-Westphalian JVA.

Course of the Searches

The searches on Tuesday extended beyond JVA Rheinbach to eight apartments in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. Properties in Cologne, Euskirchen, Rheinbach, Siegburg, as well as in Rhineland-Palatinate, were affected, among others. Police stated that they secured potential evidence such as cell phones and other data storage devices. This news was broadcast on 14.07.2026 on Deutschlandfunk.