"Cum-Ex" scandal: CDU sees political influence
According to the CDU parliamentary group, both the then mayor and current chancellor Olaf Scholz and the current mayor and former finance senator Peter Tschentscher (both SPD) exerted political influence in the "Cum-Ex" scandal. "After the interim report and three years of work in the PUA Cum-Ex, it is clear that there was political influence by Olaf Scholz and Peter Tschentscher," said Richard Seelmaecker, chairman of the CDU parliamentary group, on Tuesday in Hamburg. "Their political decision covered up an illegal, punishable act in Hamburg at the expense of the tax authorities and therefore honest taxpayers."
The SPD is still not clearing things up, but is trying to protect Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Mayor Peter Tschentscher. It also remains unclear whether the damage to the tax coffers could have been fully compensated. "The fact that the SPD is now blaming Alfons Pawelczyk and Johannes Kahrs as pawns is a transparent diversionary maneuver," said Seelmaecker. The SPD must stop preventing the investigation, he added. "It is unconstitutional that the SPD and the Greens want to prevent the members of the committee of inquiry from reviewing the emails sent by the Düsseldorf public prosecutor's office," said Seelmaecker.
The AfD parliamentary group's interim conclusion is even clearer. "If the PUA were a circumstantial trial, the SPD swamp, Olaf Scholz would already be convicted at its current head!" said AfD chairman Alexander Wolf. Scholz's several meetings with Olearius in 2016 and 2017 and the decisions made afterwards speak for themselves. "The SPD claims that the impending insolvency of Warburg Bank was a key reason for the financial administration not to reclaim 2016. This can be refuted from the files and the hearings," said Wolf. The regular SPD narrative that Warburg had repaid everything and Hamburg had even made money from the interest was not true according to the knowledge of the Parliamentary Investigation Committee (PUA).
After more than three years, the interim report on the progress to date is to be adopted by the committee this Wednesday. According to dpa information, there are around 200 comments on the more than 1000-page draft, more than 100 from the Red-Greens themselves, a good 90 from the CDU, 8 from the AfD and 7 from the Left.
The ruling coalition of SPD and Greens still sees no evidence of political influence - but rather failures on the part of the financial administration. The Left Party, on the other hand, attested that Olaf Scholz and Peter Tschentscher had at least indirectly exerted influence on Monday.
The committee of inquiry was set up after three meetings between the then mayor Scholz and Warburg shareholders Christian Olearius and Max Warburg in 2016 and 2017 became known. At the time of these meetings, Olearius was already under investigation on suspicion of serious tax fraud in connection with "cum-ex".
After the first meetings, the tax office for large companies waived the recovery claims of 47 million euros against the bank in 2016, contrary to original plans - and, according to those involved in the decision, allowed them to expire. A further 43 million euros were only claimed in 2017 on the instructions of the Federal Ministry of Finance shortly before the statute of limitations expired.
- Despite the CDU's assertions of political influence by Olaf Scholz and Peter Tschentscher in the "Cum-Ex" scandal affecting tax finances, the SPD and Greens still reject this claim.
- The ongoing investigation into the "Cum-EX" scandal raises questions about potential political influence, and if proven, could have significant implications for the citizenship and financial responsibilities of those involved.
Source: www.dpa.com
