Schröder's Party Fined for Illegal Donation

Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD), the party of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's, have been fined €768,000 ($960,000) for not properly declaring a €256,000 donation by a building developer in the western city of Wuppertal to the election campaign of the city's mayor Hans Kremendahl in 1999. Uwe Clees, the developer in question, was convicted in 2002 of trying to secure a permit for a new building complex by supporting the mayor. Kremendahl was also tried at the time but was acquitted on charges of accepting a bribe.