The 71-year-old is accused of various offenses in the Cum-Ex tax affair.
(Photo: Simon Habegger / 13 Photo)
Dusseldorf Hanno Berger’s days in the Cazis Tignez prison are numbered. According to information from the Handelsblatt, the Swiss Federal Office of Justice finally approved the request for extradition on February 16. Berger failed with his complaints before Swiss courts. Most recently, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court dealt with the case.
The German has been in extradition custody in Switzerland since July 7, 2021. The extradition is based on two charges against Berger in Germany. One comes from the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office, the other from the Cologne Public Prosecutor’s Office. The investigating authorities accuse the lawyer of serious tax evasion and investment fraud.
Ten years ago, the 71-year-old fled to Switzerland. At that time, investigators searched his office in Frankfurt and his house in southeast Hesse. In the Frankfurt indictment, Berger is described as the “spiritus rector” of the cum-ex transactions, which involved having unpaid capital gains tax refunded through share transactions around the dividend date.
The prosecutors see Berger as the main person responsible for the cum-ex scandal, which experts estimate cost the German state a total of twelve billion euros – or even more.
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