Former Cum-Ex prosecutor sues the government
**As a public prosecutor, Anne Brorhilker drove hundreds of proceedings against Cum-Ex fraudsters. Now that she has left public service, she is fighting against the "skew of the system" that enabled the multi-billion euro tax fraud.
One of the differences between her old job and her new one, Anne Brorhilker explains, is that as a public prosecutor and civil servant, she could not make political demands. For years, she drove hundreds of proceedings against participants in the multi-billion euro Cum-Ex tax fraud. But against the "skew of the system," she could do nothing. As an activist and new co-CEO of the citizen's movement Finanzwende, she is now raising heavy allegations against the Federal Government and especially the Finance Minister.
The financial administration, Brorhilker demands, must prove that it is on the side of the citizens and not the banks, which have defrauded the state of billions. Her business partner, Finanzwende founder Gerhard Schick adds: "The banking friendship of Christian Lindner has become a danger for public budgets."
What Brorhilker and Schick are working on is the obvious inactivity of the state in the so-called Cum-Cum tax fraud. This fraud scheme is closely related to the better-known Cum-Ex schemes - with two significant differences: The damage is estimated to be at least 28.5 billion euros, according to Brorhilker. And the finance ministers in the Federal Government and the states have shown - despite gigantic budget holes - no interest in recovering this money so far. On the contrary: The Federal Finance Ministry reportedly supported this practice for years, as Brorhilker claims in an interview with journalists. Only in 2021 was this corrected, but so far it has not led to any noticeable efforts to recover these billions.
"Preventing oversight and prosecution"
The inaction of the authorities harms the trust in the rule of law, Brorhilker believes. Her suspicion: The influence of the financial lobby, especially the banks, is overwhelming at this point, Brorhilker stated. "That is a large, very well-connected industry that has a great interest in preventing effective oversight and prosecution, and it succeeds in doing so." Attempts to clarify this influence were blocked by the relevant authorities. For example, they refused to provide any information on the background of the controversial letters from the Federal Finance Ministry on the Cum-Cum topic with various justifications.
Against this information blockade, Finanzwende is now filing lawsuits against the Federal Finance Ministry as well as the finance ministries of Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, and North Rhine-Westphalia. In addition, activists are turning to the public to generate political pressure, so that billion-dollar tax evasion can finally be seriously combated. Other countries, as Brorhilker mentioned, have shown that this is possible if the political will is present. For example, the Danish government is pushing for the pursuit of Cum-Ex offenders abroad. France has even established a separate prosecution office for such acts. Germany, which knows from Cum-Ex investigations that it is being laughed at by the perpetrators in investment banks due to the practically non-existent control mechanisms,
Regarding Cum-Ex and Cum-Cum transactions, these are long-standing financial transactions involving the transfer of securities across national borders before and after the dividend payment date. The goal is to have taxes on dividends paid multiple times, although they were only paid once. Under Brorhilker's leadership, the Cologne Public Prosecutor's Office obtained numerous legally binding judgments against Cum-Ex fraudsters and recovered millions of euros for German taxpayers. In April, she asked for her dismissal from public service and announced her switch to Finanzwende shortly thereafter. Finanzwende positions itself as a counterweight to the financial industry lobby.
- The Financial Scandals Committee of the German Parliament is currently investigating the allegations made by Anne Brorhilker and Finanzwende regarding the involvement of the Finance Minister and the Finance Ministry in supporting Cum-Cum tax fraud, which is a financial scandal worth billions of euros.
- Despite the Public Prosecutor's Office successfully prosecuting several Cum-Ex fraudsters, the Finance Minister and financial authorities have shown a lack of interest in recovering the billions lost due to Cum-Cum transactions, potentially due to the influence of the financial lobby and banks.
- The EU Commission has also expressed concern about the Financial Scandals in Germany and has urged the German authorities to take action against the Cum-Ex and Cum-Cum transactions, which have been a source of tax fraud and financial scandals in Europe.
