Rainer Rene Graf Adelmann von Adelmannsfelden (born Rene Freiherr von Godin,[1] 1948) is a former German lawyer best known for founding the Bund deutscher Legionäre (English: Federation of German mercenaries), the Christliche Vereinigung zur Familienförderung (English:Christian association for family development), an agency dealing with the adoption of unborn babies and a business in dealing with organ donations.
[2][3] He also operated a number of other business entities, like the Der Wettbewerbsbeobachter (English:The competition monitor) and the Zentralkomitee für die Allgemeinbefolgung obergerichtlicher Rechtssprechung in Wettbewerbssachen, both targeting small businesses who made small clerical errors in advertisement by "fining" them or taking them to court for violating Competition law.
[2] He operated his business through the company Terfina Vermögensverwaltungs-GmbH, and contacted foreign, mainly Asian and African embassies and governments for the purpose of building a clientele.
For this, Graf Adelmann promised combat training in Belgium and shooting practise in Switzerland, at the weapons manufacturers premises.
[2] Another business Graf Adelmann operated was the Christian association for family development, targeted at childless parents who were interested in adopting an as yet unborn or unconceived, baby.
The Prosecutors Office at Konstanz investigated against the business but was unable to prosecute as it violated no existing law at the time, declaring Adelmann had found a loop hole.
Surgery would then be performed in France, Adelman claiming that organ donation for money being legal there despite the fact that both French and German doctors had voluntarily outlawed such transactions.
In 1989, he tried to expand his business to the United Kingdom and was able to find a number of willing donors there, offering between US$30,000 and 50,000 per kidney, with the intention of making a 20% cut on every operation.
[9] Graf Adelmann's activities even prompted a request in the German Parliament, the Bundestag, in 1989, to tighten the organ donor law in the country and to shorten the lengthy donation process.
A number of MP's of the Social Democratic Party of Germany posted the question what the federal government would do against Adelmann's activities.