“Cum-Ex” stands for the largest tax robbery in German history. Fast stock trading around the dividend payment date enabled the perpetrators to have a capital gains tax once paid reimbursed several times.
Together with related transactions, the state suffered damage of over 35 billion euros.
When the Hamburg tax office made momentous decisions in favor of the Warburg-Bank in 2016, Scholz was mayor of Hamburg and the current mayor, Peter Tschentscher, was his finance senator.
From what we know today, Tschentscher held his protective hand over Warburg Bank and its owners in 2016. He helped ensure that the bank did not have to repay almost 50 million euros in criminal cum-ex money.
This must not remain without consequences. Peter Tschentscher finally has to resign. His embellished and sometimes flimsy statements in the case, which he also put on record last Friday in the investigative committee of the Hamburg Parliament, are not enough.
It is about averting further damage from politics and introducing tougher handling of financial crime.
To date, no politician has taken responsibility for the massive failure
To date, there is no politician who has taken responsibility for the massive failure in terms of cum-ex. Apologies – none. Resignations – especially non-existent.
The particularly piquant Hamburg case involves the local Warburg Bank, a traditional bank with the best contacts in politics. The details of her involvement in Cum-Ex and her political protection may remain hidden forever.
Gerhard Schick calls on Tschentscher to resign.
(Photo: dpa)
Among other things, the gaps in memory that Chancellor Scholz claimed for himself when questioned on the subject in spring 2021 before a Hamburg committee of inquiry contribute to this.
Nevertheless, there is a lot on the table: in mid-November 2016, the Hamburg tax office for large companies, after consultation with the Hanseatic city’s Ministry of Finance, decided to let the statute of limitations apply to a reclaim of 47 million euros in cum-ex funds from the Warburg Bank from the 2009 tax year.
The Warburg-Bank was to get off scot-free, even though criminal investigations against Cum-Ex participants had been underway for three years at the time and it had been confirmed by the court that the transactions were illegal.
At that time, various banks had already repaid profits from the transactions.
>> Read here: Federal Fiscal Court removes last doubts: Cum-Ex transactions were illegal
In October 2016, the Hamburg tax office also wanted to reclaim the funds from Warburg. But within six weeks there was an about-face – and the authorities decided on the statute of limitations.
There is a lot of speculation about the reason for this. Spicy details such as party donations from the Warburg Bank to the Hamburg SPD should not even be discussed at this point.
The fact is: The co-owner of the Warburg Bank, Christian Olearius, met the mayor at the time, Olaf Scholz, during the six weeks in question. And this despite the fact that the public prosecutor’s office was already investigating against Olearius.
The about-face of the tax office cannot be explained without Tschentscher’s intervention
Olearius’ diary entries state that Scholz called him a few days after the meeting and said he should send the Warburg Bank’s defense brief to Finance Senator Peter Tschentscher.
The senator took the pages and wrote on them, in his own unique green ink, “Status information requested.” He then forwards the document to the head of finance.
The letter of defense was already available to the tax office in Hamburg at the time. Tschentscher’s correct reaction would have been to put the letter in his drawer.
As a finance senator, he must have been aware that by forwarding the letter and his clear interest in the matter, he was breaking through the firewall between politics and the tax authorities.
The tax officials who then had to decide on the Warburg case did so with the knowledge of Tschentscher’s note.
Exactly to prevent that, just Olaf Scholz explained that he had not forwarded the defense to the Hamburg tax office. Because that would have given rise to interpretation, explained Scholz.
The about-face of the Hanseatic city’s tax office cannot be explained without the intervention of the then finance senator. Nor did he object to the final and erroneous decision to bar the matter.
The 47 million euros were gone for the time being. They could later be brought back under criminal law – the Bundestag had meanwhile passed appropriate measures.
But in 2016, no one could have known that such a path would exist. It is a cheap diversionary tactic that Peter Tschentscher once again referred to this path in the committee of inquiry on Friday.
However, that was not the end of tax reclaims: in 2017, the Hamburg tax office almost let Warburg-Bank get away with it again. This shows how long Hamburg treated the Warburg Bank far too leniently.
Only when the Federal Ministry of Finance intervened and instructed Hamburg not to let another 43 million euros in repayments become time-barred did the financial officials in the Hanseatic city act.
If Tschentscher doesn’t go of his own accord, the Greens will have to stop working with him
The exact role of Olaf Scholz will probably never be clarified due to a lack of written evidence. The only thing that is clear is that – bad enough – he has repeatedly met with a cum-ex suspect.
Peter Tschentscher, on the other hand, has files. He knew that the transactions were illegal, but he forwarded the bank boss’s defense to his own subordinates and knew their decision.
He thus bears personal responsibility for ensuring that criminal funds were not reclaimed and that the assets of the responsible bank bosses were spared.
This is not trifle. It’s a structure we’re familiar with from countries where mafiosi and oligarchs have free reign: people with a lot of money get special treatment, even if their money comes from criminal businesses.
Political decision-makers are harnessed to their own ends. In this way, the rule of law and proper administration are undermined for the benefit of all citizens.
This kind of bargaining between politicians and financial criminals must not be tolerated. Otherwise, the rule of law will go astray.
If Tschentscher doesn’t take his hat off himself, his government partners from the Greens will have to terminate their cooperation. You’ve been watching for far too long anyway.
The author: Gerhard Schick is on the board of the citizens’ movement Finanzwende. The economist previously sat for the Greens in the Bundestag and drove the clarification of cum-ex deals, including as part of a committee of inquiry.
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