Background

The head of Germany’s major public broadcaster, ARD, was forced to resign last week after a string of revelations in the German media about her lavish spending of licence payer’s cash.

Patricia Schlesinger, a 61 year old who’d climbed up the ARD career ladder from an early role as a reporter tasked with rooting out corruption, has allegedly been more than a little spendthrift when handed control over public finances.

Reports in Business Insider and Bild Zeitung suggest that Schlesinger used the licence fee to fund a lavish refurbishment of her office to the tune of €650,000 (complete with two massage chairs, Italian parquet flooring and a self-watering floral wall).