Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Sunday, Jun 01, 2025

German chancellor forced again to deny link to banking tax scandal

German chancellor forced again to deny link to banking tax scandal

Previously unseen emails put former Hamburg mayor Olaf Scholz back in spotlight over €300m fraud scheme
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, on Friday again denied allegations that he held a protecting hand over a local bank found guilty of a multimillion euro tax fraud scheme while he was mayor of Hamburg, as the centre-left politician was questioned by a state parliamentary committee in the northern city for a second time.

“I did not influence the Warburg tax procedure,” Scholz said at the start of the session. “There was no political influence on the tax procedure.”

Hamburg-based MM Warburg & Co, Germany’s oldest and largest private bank, is alleged to have swindled the German state out of an estimated €300m through the so-called “cum-ex” scheme between at least 2007 and 2011.

Cum-ex deals involve trading shares at high speed on or just before the dividend record date – the day the company checks its records to identify shareholders – and then claiming two or more refunds for capital gains tax that had in fact been paid to the state only once.

The name refers to rapidly traded shares with (“cum”) and without (“ex”) dividend rights. Last year the German federal court of justice ruled that such schemes were and always had been criminal acts of tax evasion.

Scholz, now the head of Germany’s three-party coalition government, agreed in September 2016 to meet Warburg’s boss at the time, Christian Olearius, while the bank was already under investigation by financial authorities and faced having to pay back €47m in taxes.

Shortly after the meeting, Warburg was told by Hamburg authorities that it did not have to pay the bill after all – a decision partly revoked a year later by the federal finance ministry in Berlin.

On Friday Scholz dismissed as “suppositions and insinuations” claims made by opposition politicians that he had influenced the tax authorities’ waiver by asking Olearius to forward a document outlining his defence to the city’s state minister for finance.

Even though the allegations centre on events that took place six years ago, the affair has captivated German national media again in recent weeks due to the emergence of previously unknown details.

This week it emerged that investigators working for the public prosecutor in Cologne had seized emails from Scholz’s former office manager that suggest the then mayor may have deleted data pertaining to the matter. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said the emails clearly “incriminate” Scholz.

The meeting between Scholz and Olearius was described in the former Warburg boss’s seized diary. This was cited in court and leaked to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, though the politician said he could not remember what they talked about when first questioned by a parliamentary committee.

He said he had given no “special treatment” to the banker, whose lending house plays a powerful role in Germany’s second largest city and played a part in rescuing the local shipping company Hapag-Lloyd from a sale in 2008.

At the chancellor’s annual summer press conference in early August, Scholz sounded increasingly frustrated when pressed by journalists on the affair.

“An incredible number of people have been interviewed, an incredible number of files have been scrutinised,” the Social Democratic party (SDP) politician said. “And if you follow the press coverage about the relevant hearings, there’s always the same result: no political influence was exercised when it came to the decisions. I am convinced that this understanding won’t change, that’s very clear after two and a half years.”

Prosecutors in Hamburg backed the chancellor’s stance on Tuesday this week, rejecting a legal complaint seeking to open criminal proceedings against Scholz and ruling they had so far seen no reason to investigate him.

Delegates of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and leftwing Die Linke in Hamburg want to expand the investigative committee’s reach to also look into the cum-ex activities of Hamburg Commercial Bank (formerly HSH Nordbank), which would probably lead to more appearances by the chancellor.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
European and Arab Ministers Convene in Madrid to Address Gaza Conflict
Head of Gaza Aid Group Resigns Amid Humanitarian Concerns
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
Trump Administration Cancels $100 Million in Federal Contracts with Harvard
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Failure, Mars Mission Timeline Uncertain
King Charles Affirms Canadian Sovereignty Amid U.S. Statehood Pressure
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Founder Warns Against Trusting Regime in Nuclear Talks
Netanyahu Accuses Starmer of Siding with Hamas
Calls Grow to Resume Syrian Asylum Claims in UK
UAE Offers Free ChatGPT Plus Subscriptions to Citizens
Denmark Increases Retirement Age to 70, Setting a European Precedent
Iranian Director Jafar Panahi Wins Palme d'Or at Cannes
Israeli Airstrike Kills Nine Children of Gaza Doctor
Lebanon Initiates Plan to Disarm Palestinian Factions
Iran and U.S. Make Limited Progress in Nuclear Talks
Trump Administration's Tariff Policies and Dollar Strategy Spark Global Economic Debate
OpenAI Acquires Jony Ive’s Startup for $6.5 Billion to Build a Revolutionary “Third Core Device”
Turkey Weighs Citizens in Public as Erdoğan Launches National Slimming Campaign
UK Suspends Trade Talks with Israel Amid Gaza Offensive
Iran and U.S. Set for Fifth Round of Nuclear Talks Amid Rising Tensions
Russia Expands Military Presence Near Finland Amid Rising Tensions
Indian Scholar Arrested in Crackdown Over Pakistan Conflict Commentary
Israel Eases Gaza Blockade Amid Internal Dispute Over Military Strategy
President Biden’s announcement of advanced prostate cancer sparked public sympathy—but behind closed doors, Democrats are in panic
Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki Erupts Again, Spewing Ash Cloud over Flores Island
Indian jet shootdown: the all-robot legion behind China’s PL-15E missiles
The Chinese Dragon: The True Winner in the India-Pakistan Clash
Australia's Venomous Creatures Contribute to Life-Saving Antivenom Programme
The Spanish Were Right: Long Working Hours Harm Brain Function
Did Former FBI Director Call for Violence Against Trump? Instagram Post Sparks Uproar
US and UAE Partner to Develop Massive AI Data Center Complex
Apple's $95 Million Siri Settlement: Eligible Users Have Until July 2 to File Claims
US and UAE Reach Preliminary Agreement on Nvidia AI Chip Imports
President Trump and Elon Musk Welcomed by Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim with Cybertruck Convoy
Strong Warning Issued: Do Not Use General Chatbots for Medical, Legal, or Educational Guidance
NVIDIA and Saudi Arabia Launch Strategic Partnership to Establish AI Centers
Trump Meets Syrian President Ahmad al-Shara in Historic Encounter
US and Saudi Arabia Sign Landmark Agreements Across Multiple Sectors
Why Saudi Arabia Rolled Out a Purple Carpet for Donald Trump Instead of Red
Elon Musk Joins Trump Meeting in Saudi Arabia
Trump says it would be 'stupid' not to accept gift of Qatari plane
Quantum Computing Threatens Bitcoin Security
Michael Jordan to Serve as Analyst for NBA Games
×