Spectacular turning point in the trial against Alfons Schuhbeck: The star chef accused of tax evasion has made a wide-ranging confession before the Munich Regional Court. “I did some things wrong,” he said on Wednesday, admitting to manipulating sales at one of his restaurants and taking money from the tills. The 73-year-old said he was a passionate cook, but had failed as an entrepreneur. Schuhbeck faces a prison sentence.
Schuhbeck, known from numerous television programs and dozens of cookbooks, said: “If I could undo something, I would do it immediately – but I have to admit to myself that I’m not a good businessman.” After the bankruptcy of his company last year and the present indictment, he was “in front of the ruins of his life’s work”.
The public prosecutor accuses Schuhbeck of manipulating the sales in his two Munich restaurants by millions and thereby evading a good 2.3 million euros in taxes.
He “repeatedly used the opportunity to reduce sales and thereby took money out of the till,” Schuhbeck admitted in court yesterday. The public prosecutor accuses the 73-year-old of using a computer program to smuggle revenue past the tax office. Schuhbeck confirmed that this tool existed.
Where did the money go?
The statements made by his former IT specialist, who weighed heavily on his boss at the start of the trial last week, are “on the whole correct”. Schuhbeck said he couldn’t explain where all the money went. He “mainly plugged financial holes and supported my children in their education”. He wanted to enable them to study, which he was unable to complete himself. In addition, he has repeatedly bought antiques with the money, but these are no longer worth much. “I didn’t squander the money on a life of luxury (…),” says Schuhbeck. “I don’t play either.” He doesn’t have “other vices” either. “I don’t have any foreign accounts or anything buried anywhere.”
Now it will depend on what amount of tax evasion can be proven in the end. According to a judgment by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH), a prison sentence without probation is usually threatened for a sum of one million euros or more. The process is expected to last until just before Christmas.
Source: Nachrichten
