The Finance Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will answer questions from the press on Tuesday.
(Photo: IMAGO/BildFunkMV)
Berlin, Brussels In the affair surrounding the burned tax documents of the climate foundation, the finance ministry of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is under pressure to explain. A spokeswoman confirmed on request that the ministry had been informed about the destruction of tax documents at the end of April. The public prosecutor’s office was only informed about the process a few days later – on May 3rd.
The foundation was set up in early 2021 specifically for the purpose of circumventing the threat of US sanctions against the construction of the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline. Established by the state and supported by Gazprom, the institution funded the work on the large-scale project to a significant extent. According to its own statements, the foundation concluded corresponding contracts with 80 subcontractors.
Over the weekend it became known that a tax officer had burned tax returns from the climate foundation. The woman had found the paperwork in her office, although she was not in charge of the case. The officer later testified that she then burned the tax papers in her mother’s fireplace out of “panic.”
The documents were three tax returns from the Climate Foundation, which had received 20 million euros directly from the Russian gas company Gazprom. With their help, it should be clarified whether the foundation might have had to pay gift tax.
The FDP state chairman René Domke demanded from the state government around Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) a “complete clarification” about the disappearance of the documents and why the government had concealed this from the public. According to its own statements, the State Chancellery only found out about the investigation in December.
Finance Minister Geue must take a stand
Finance Minister Heiko Geue (SPD) wants to comment on the allegations in Schwerin this Tuesday. He will have to explain why he kept his knowledge to himself.
The Climate Foundation was already highly controversial last year – a possible reason for the “panic” of the tax officer. After she burned the documents, she obviously had pangs of conscience and reported the case to her superior at the responsible Ribnitz-Damgarten tax office. This emerges from documents available to the Handelsblatt.
The head of the tax office first reported the case to the Ministry of Finance and then reported the destruction of the files to the Stralsund public prosecutor’s office on May 3, 2022. After a quick check, the investigators reported the case to the Ministry of Justice on May 5, 2022 and ultimately also to Justice Minister Jacqueline Bernhardt (left).
On September 20, the public prosecutor’s office dropped their investigations against a monetary condition. Disciplinary proceedings are still ongoing against the official, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Finance said.
The finance minister knew about the burning of the files before the public prosecutor’s office was informed.
(Photo: dpa)
The events in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are now also dealing with federal politics. At the request of the CDU, the Bundestag is to discuss document destruction in a current hour this week.
More: Minister of Justice was informed about illegal file burning – and was silent.