MP Roy Reding from the Alternative Democratic Reform Party (adr) has been acquitted of all charges of fraud. Reding had lodged an appeal against the initial verdict issued in April.

The judges presiding over the appeal case unanimously cleared Reding of all counts, overturning the previous first-instance judgement. The original ruling had resulted in a one-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of €50,000.

The charges against MP Reding revolved around allegations of illicit real estate transactions. Specifically, the public prosecutor's office accused him of concealing the need to reconvert a flat into a basement room in a residential building he sold in Kirchberg in 2016.

A court decision in 2014 had determined that renting out the converted basement room as a separate flat was illegal. The living space, created between 2009 and 2010, failed to meet building regulations, including the minimum ceiling height requirement.

The 2015 appeal process had upheld the initial court decision. However, instead of complying with the demolition order, Reding sold the property a year later.

During the second-instance proceedings held in April, it was once again a matter of testimony against testimony.

Reding's lawyer, Lydie Lorang, pointed out that the buyer was aware that the fifth flat in the building could not be rented out. She argued that this information had been communicated via email to the real estate agent. However, in the initial trial, the agent had testified that he had not been made aware of the situation.

The prosecution, on the other hand, presented a different interpretation of the events. They argued that the energy passport and the rental balance from 2015 had given the buyer the impression that the residential building comprised five units.