By Elizabeth ADENUGA
A man arrested this week for releasing private data on hundreds of German politicians, journalists and celebrities will likely face further investigations linked to other cases, German prosecutors said on Friday.
Prosecutors in the city of Giessen had already considered cases against the 20-year-old in the past, but had never brought those probes to completion.
Now, investigators in Frankfurt looking at the most recent case have requested documents on the other cases to see if they can be linked.
Few details were released, but the initial crimes being investigated by Giessen were reportedly of a similar nature.
The man, who confessed when arrested on Sunday, is accused of illegally accessing online accounts and then releasing photos, phone numbers and transcripts of internet chats day by day throughout December.
He is not being detained while police finish their investigation because he is not considered a flight risk.
Prosecutors would not comment on media reports that the suspect had been known to frequent right-wing and anti-Islamic websites.
“The motivation of the suspect is part of the investigation,” said the spokesman.
Aside from shocking Germany with the release of information, the case upset many leading Germans because most authorities did not become aware of the leaks until early January, even though one agency had some information about the leaks in December.
