Wolfgang Vogel - German Reunification

German Reunification

After reunification, his Stasi links left him open to accusations of extortion, profiteering and tax evasion that culminated in his arrest and later conviction in a state court in Berlin in 1996 on five counts of blackmail which led to a brief imprisonment. He appealed; Germany's highest court found in his favor in 1998 on two of the cases, and prosecutors agreed to drop the others.

Vogel died in his home in Schliersee, Bavaria, after suffering a heart attack.