A notorious crime-ridden Syrian family living in Stuttgart has cost German taxpayers more than €1 million in prison costs to date, according to figures released by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Justice.
The data, disclosed in response to a parliamentary inquiry by Alternative for Germany (AfD) state lawmaker Daniel Lindenschmid, details the scale of criminal offending by several members of the family and the financial impact on public finances.
According to the ministry, eight children of asylum seeker Almudy H. incurred a combined €1,053,508 in detention and prison costs as a result of their convictions. The extended family consisted of around 20 people and was housed in Stuttgart, where they lived a life of relentless crime. By 2025, authorities had linked family members to at least 160 criminal offenses.
The most serious cases involved several brothers with lengthy criminal records. As reported by Bild, one of them, 22-year-old Mufed, alone cost taxpayers €254,140. He was sentenced in February 2025 to two years in prison for threats and coercion, after previously spending three years in juvenile detention for offenses including aggravated assault, burglary, and arson. His brother Edo incurred €104,568 in prison costs and was involved in a stabbing in November 2023, while Khalid, who had eight prior offenses, served one year and two months in prison at a cost of €77,220. Mustafa, still a minor, was imprisoned at the age of 14, generating €20,700 in costs. Their 20-year-old sister Fakhria served four months in prison, costing €21,600.
A sum of €575,280 was attributed to the brothers Mohammed, Khalil, and Jamil, who were convicted of stabbing three men in Stuttgart in July 2024. Their releases are expected in August 2026, January 2027, and October 2027. State Secretary Siegfried Lorek said, “These three brothers will fly to their home country as soon as possible. However, according to current law, they must serve part of their sentence.”
In October 2025, Baden-Württemberg Justice Minister Marion Gentges and her department succeeded in securing the departure of 17 family members through a state-organized “controlled exit.” The operation cost €45,228.57 and included plane tickets, prisoner transport, document fees, and around €23,000 in cash payments provided for discretionary use. According to the ministry, each family member received an average of about €1,350 under Germany’s voluntary return program.
The case had already drawn national attention months earlier. In December 2024, officials confirmed that the extended family was responsible for at least 154 crimes, a figure that continued to climb. These included 47 physical assaults, 11 threats, two robberies, three robbery-related thefts, one case of smuggling of foreigners, and additional charges such as attempted murder. The scale of offending only became public after an AfD parliamentary inquiry, released by the Baden-Württemberg interior ministry.
German media reported that members of the family openly discussed their criminal pasts. In interviews with Bild, Mufed acknowledged multiple convictions, while the family patriarch, Abd Almudy H., blamed the German Youth Welfare Office for his children’s behavior, saying the agency had “spoiled” them. Bild later reported that Almudy H. himself had 12 criminal convictions, mostly for violent crimes and threats, despite publicly downplaying his record.
Following the deportations, authorities defended the state-funded departures as cost-effective. Lorek described the payments as “money well spent,” arguing that voluntary returns were cheaper and faster than prolonged incarceration or deportation proceedings, which are currently not possible to Syria. He added that the cost of human smuggling would make any attempt by the family to re-enter Germany financially unrealistic.
