Prince accused of plot said to have visited Russians

BERLIN >> The German prince accused of organizing a plot to overthrow the German government met at least once with Russian diplomats at a consulate in Germany, according to two people familiar with the investigation into the conspiracy, a meeting that investigators are examining to determine how aggressively the prince tried to involve Moscow in the plot.

The two people also described striking new details about the plot, offering a dramatic portrait of how much planning the network had invested.

Investigators told lawmakers that in the course of raids against the group, which targeted 150 locations across the country, they confiscated around 40 firearms. But they also found thousands of bullets for other weapons they have yet to locate, leaving police on the hunt for hidden caches of weapons.

Three people familiar with the investigation — a lawmaker, a top aide to another lawmaker, and another German official — discussed details of the investigation on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the case publicly.

The raids also found more than 100 nondisclosure agreements, two of those people said, swearing signees to secrecy over the group's plans, which involved storming the German Parliament and arresting its members, as well as killing the chancellor. So far, police have arrested 23 suspects and are investigating another 31 people.

Many of these contracts, the lawmaker and the lawmaker's aide said, were signed with an acknowledgment that breaking their silence should be punishable by death.

Lawmakers said they have been equally troubled by potential links between the prince accused of being a ringleader of the plot and a Russian consulate in the eastern city of Leipzig.

Prince Heinrich XIII of Reuss, identified as the designated leader of a shadow government the plotters had formed, had twice visited the Russian consulate in Leipzig.