Prosecutors reopen Boateng assault probe

Bayern Munich's Jerome Boateng. [Reuters]

Munich authorities have reopened their investigation of assault allegations against Bayern Munich defender Jérôme Boateng after receiving new information from police investigating the death of his ex-girlfriend, prosecutors said yesterday.

Munich prosecutors last summer shelved their investigation into an alleged 2019 assault by Boateng on his former girlfriend Kasia Lenhardt, after Lenhardt decided “not to provide any more incriminating statements.”

They also wanted to wait for the outcome of the football star’s trial in a separate assault case. Boateng’s attorney has rejected the allegations in both cases.

Lenhardt, a model, was found dead in a Berlin apartment on February 9 and police have said they have found no evidence of outside involvement. Boateng returned to Germany from Bayern’s participation at the Club World Cup in Qatar for personal reasons the following day. Munich prosecutors told The Associated Press in an email that they reopened their investigation on February 10, after “we received new information from the course of investigation into the death” of Lenhardt.

They would not comment further on the new information, saying the investigation is ongoing. Meantime, the Munich district court trial of Boateng on allegations of assault against former partner Sherin Senler, the mother of their two children, has not been able to start due to coronavirus restrictions. Boateng’s legal representative filed a complaint against Munich prosecutors in June 2020 alleging an innocent person was being prosecuted, but the complaint was rejected by the state prosecutor’s office on August 18.