For twelve years, investigations have been underway into bankers, lawyers and tax consultants who are said to have cheated the state out of billions. What happens next after the spectacular departure of the chief investigator?
For twelve years, Cologne prosecutors have been investigating Cum-Ex, the largest tax theft in the country to date. Currently, over 30 prosecutors are working on the case. The interim result of the years of work: They have brought charges against one percent of the accused – 17 out of 1,700.
While the first groundbreaking judgments against tax lawyer Hanno Berger, who is considered to be the inventor of the scam, are legally binding, the vast majority of the charges are still pending. Are cases at risk of becoming statute-barred and with them billions in repayments to the tax authorities?
Estimated damage of ten billion euros
In cum-ex transactions, investors moved shares back and forth around the dividend record date with (“cum”) and without (“ex”) distribution entitlement. As a result, tax offices refunded capital gains taxes that had not even been paid. The state thus suffered losses estimated at ten billion euros.
In the 120 known investigation complexes, there is no threat of an acute statute of limitations because this has been interrupted by measures such as searches, a spokesman for the Cologne public prosecutor’s office said in response to a dpa inquiry.
But he also has to admit that not all of the evidence seized has been examined and that unknown crimes could be hidden in it. In addition, questioning of the accused could bring new suspects to light. And the clock is ticking as far as these are concerned.
Some crimes can no longer be prosecuted: they were discovered too late by the public prosecutor’s office and had already expired by that time. But even in these cases, confiscation of assets is still possible, reports a spokeswoman for the authority.
The statute of limitations for Cum-Ex offences was extended to 15 years in view of the high amounts of damage. However, the new regulation does not apply to cases that had already expired at the end of 2020.
Dispute over leadership of Cum-Ex chief investigator caused a furore
Against this background, the dispute over the leadership of Cum-Ex chief investigator Anne Brorhilker caused a furore. North Rhine-Westphalia’s Justice Minister Benjamin Limbach (Greens) wanted to split up the main department H headed by Brorhilker, but withdrew the plan last year after strong opposition. It was seen as a disempowerment of Brorhilker against her will. The media response was accordingly.
Brorhilker remained the sole director, but four group leader positions were created under her leadership and four additional positions were created. But then what Limbach had feared happened: Brorhilker’s absence. In April, she surprisingly announced that she was resigning from her position and moving to the Finanzwende organization.
With a major inquiry and 331 individual questions, the FDP faction in the NRW state parliament has now attempted to shed light on the events. On 116 pages, which have been made available to the German Press Agency, the NRW Minister of Justice meticulously lists what he found after taking office, what made him suspicious and why he wanted to enlarge the “bottleneck” at the head of Department H.
After all, lawyers had already targeted Brorhilker and her failure, for example through a motion for recusal, would have been devastating. Then there was the hesitant and long-term inadequate delivery of information to the Hamburg committee of inquiry and the reports that needed to be revised. Too much responsibility in one person is a risk.
Criticism of the lack of inclusion of Brorhilker and unrest in the system
Limbach has to admit, however, that he did not obtain a vote from Brorhilker himself before making his decision. The state legislature did not provide for this when setting up new main departments, the minister now argues legally.
Instead of strengthening the public prosecutor’s office with additional personnel, he only caused unrest in the overall system by dividing up the department, criticizes Werner Pfeil, the FDP’s legal policy spokesman in the NRW state parliament.
Brorhilker’s successor, senior public prosecutor Tim Engel, is now supposed to fix it. Will the rate of cases increase soon? A new courthouse is currently being built in Siegburg near Cologne specifically for the Cum-Ex trials. The economic criminal proceedings are to be heard there for 15 years. It is due to be completed in October.
Source: Stern
