On January 30 the Bundestag stripped parliamentary immunity from Karin Strenz, a deputy from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, reported radio NDR. The decision comes alongside an investigation by the public prosecutor's office in Frankfurt am Main. The investigation was about Strenz ties to Azerbaijan.

She is accused of taking a bribe of at least 22 thousand euros to lobby for the interests of Azerbaijan in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). In connection with an investigation into Strenz, about 100 prosecutors, the Federal Criminal Office and the Belgian police raided 16 sites: the deputy’s office in the Bundestag, her personal apartment in Berlin, as well as in residential premises, offices and law firms in Berlin, the federal states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Bavaria, as well as in Belgium. Several anti-corruption associations are calling for strong consequences for her actions. Lobby control believes Strenz is no longer a sustainable CDU deputy and Transparency International welcomed the investigation by the public prosecutor's office in Frankfurt am Main. 

The Bundestag administration had already imposed a large fine on Strenz last March. She was alleged of providing consultancy services for a company in Nuremberg with connections to Azerbaijan with a fee of about 20,000 euros. The announcement of the payments triggered the scandal about Strenz shortly before the 2017 federal election. She certified the government to have held regular elections in Azerbaijan, in contrast to other Council of Europe election observers. She also spoke out against the release of political prisoners. 

Strenz did not officially respond to the allegations. The CDU faction stressed that Strenz, had been withdrawn from PACE before the public prosecutor's investigation even became public. The CDU State Secretary General Wolfgang Waldmüller stated that he was surprised by the new allegations. The matter is primarily “a private matter of Mrs. Strenz,” he told the NDR. Waldmüller pointed out that the presumption of innocence must also apply in her case. The Union parliamentary group reactions on Thursday to the recent headlines in the Strenz case are rather scarce. A Union spokesman said that the investigation is supported with the available options. “It is also in our interest to clarify the scope and justification of the allegations in the room as quickly as possible.”

Together with Strenz is the case of ex-deputy of the Bundestag from the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), the former parliamentary state secretary to the Minister of the Interior, Eduard Lintner. According to the prosecutor's office, from 2008 to 2016 Lintner received about 4 million euros from Azerbaijan through British shell companies that had accounts in banks in Baltic countries. He redirected a significant part of this money, minus his remuneration, to individual PACE members who were supposed to speak positively about the elections in Azerbaijan and oppose the demands for the release of political prisoners in this country.

In an interview with “Report Mainz” Lintner confirmed that he received monthly payments from Azerbaijan. According to Lintner, the payments flowed into the “Society for the Promotion of German-Azerbaijani Relations” which he led. The money was mainly used to finance an office in Berlin. Lintner described the payments as “normal business relationships.” He rejected any allegations of corruption as "excessive" and “groundless”. He added that he has “a completely clear conscience.”

There is also a third suspect in this case, whose name has not yet been disclosed. He is accused of creating a shell company and opening bank accounts through his law office to transfer money from Azerbaijan to bribe PACE members.