The trial of Olearius in the Cum-Ex case may be cut short.
Christian Olearius, a banker from Hamburg, is facing severe charges of tax evasion in the Cum-Ex criminal trial. However, due to his deteriorating health, the proceedings against him might be suspended. The Bonn Regional Court has reported that the public prosecutor has requested the suspension, citing a medical report which asserted Olearius' current health condition is so poor that any hearing session should last no more than 45 minutes.
The prosecution asserts that gathering the remaining evidence would take up to 120 court days, and it's not feasible for the 82-year-old defendant given his health condition. He's been suffering from blood pressure issues, and a doctor has consistently been present in the courtroom during previous sessions. The prosecutor has also recommended that the criminal proceedings be transformed into a confiscation process, with profits from illegal activities totalling approximately 43 million euros being forfeited.
The defense, on the other hand, has opposed this. They have demanded an acquittal but conditionally allowed the suspension of the proceedings. The trial is set to continue next week, and Olearius maintains his innocence: he claims he was never aware of or intentionally involved in Cum-Ex transactions. He insists that he dealt with normal stock purchase contracts and was not attempting to harm the state.
The Cum-Ex scandal, which revolves around illegal stock transactions, is Germany's biggest tax scandal. The scheme involved passing back and forth papers with and without dividend claims, leading the tax office to pay capital gains taxes that hadn't been paid. The total damage is estimated at around ten billion euros, with about 1700 suspects involved. Papers from Olearius' diaries showed that he had met with the then-Mayor of Hamburg, Olaf Scholz, three times. While the content of the meetings is unknown, it's known that the tax office withdrew its demand and the claims expired under the laws in place at the time. Scholz denies any political influence and has no clear memory of what was discussed during the meetings.
The Cum-Ex Scandal's Impact
The Cum-Ex scandal is the largest tax scandal in Germany. It revolves around illegal stock deals that were executed to avoid paying capital gains taxes. Financial professionals used practice called "cum" (with dividend) and "ex" (without dividend) paper shuffling. By doing this, they managed to get the state to pay tax on stock sales that wouldn't have been due. The total damage caused to the government is estimated to be around 10 billion euros. This scheme was allegedly used by approximately 1700 suspects.
In this scam, different parties would pass around papers that represented stocks with and without dividend rights. They would execute these transfers multiple times within a small period, causing the tax office to pay taxes that hadn't been paid. The German state is believed to have suffered significant losses of around 10 billion euros due to these activities.
