Recently, more scandals in the executive floors have become public again.
If anything can still frighten the powerful of the economy, then it is the real democratic constitutional state. He judges and punishes in the name of the people. However, Hanno Berger escaped unscathed.
The former star lawyer and mastermind of the cum-ex business has been sentenced to eight years in prison. That’s not a little. But the sentence was well below the possible maximum of 15 years in prison. So Berger didn’t hit the whole hardship of a constitutional state, he found a lenient judge.
The verdict should confirm the old saying: hang the little ones, let the big ones walk. With a top defender at your side, the worst can be prevented. What may seem opportune from the individual point of view of the accused is fatal for the citizens’ sense of justice.
The tax attorney was one of the central figures in Germany’s biggest tax evasion scandal.
(Photo: Reuters)
In any case, a lot has happened in the last few days that is undermining trust in the business and political elite. In the biggest German economic scandal, the former Wirecard boss is in the dock.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
Markus Braun’s defense attorney explains that his client knew nothing. Police have arrested the founder of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried. The Darmstadt district court found the ex-boss of the gold dealer Pim guilty of fraud and money laundering.
>> Read here: Sam Bankman-Fried blames himself
Eva Kaili, the Vice President of the European Parliament, is in custody on suspicion of corruption. Those who keep sacks full of bribes at home seem to feel they are above the law. All in all, that’s quite a lot in such a short time.
Only: have business representatives and politicians become more criminal or immoral in recent years? Nothing speaks for that. In recent years there has been a lot of frustration with regard to the “beletage” of German companies. The diesel scandal at the Volkswagen car company is still omnipresent. And that is just the most prominent example among many.
Ludwig Erhard seemed to suspect all of this when he warned in “Prosperity for All”: “Ultimately, I demand the greatest sacrifices, the greatest insight and responsibility from the responsible companies that have the production and distribution apparatus of the economy at their disposal .”
“Everyone is looking for the next scandal”
Basically, the morale of the ruling elite is not much different than that of the rest of society. However, with one big difference: unlike in the past, corruption scandals and white-collar crime have been in the public eye for around 15 years.
TV stations, social networks and media houses that broadcast digitally around the clock are certainly also tending to escalate. In addition, law enforcement authorities are investigating more persistently and efficiently.
No wonder that the current accumulation of negative headlines is melting away the trust capital of the citizens. In tense times, people take a closer look at how government and business leaders behave.
The desire for more responsibility for the economy then turns into a criticism of the economic system as a whole. In the case of the social market economy, the adjective is quickly deleted.
Another danger looms. The greater the gap in trust between the informed elite and the rest of the population, the less optimistic about the future there is in a country. Bosses and employees have always built our prosperity hand in hand over the past decades and trusted each other.
With reliability, drive and truthfulness. Virtues that we need today more than ever.
More: Corruption in Brussels: “This is probably the tip of the iceberg.”