Stock traders took advantage of loopholes and bounced billions on the state. The Cologne prosecutor's office is serious in the investigation of the cum-ex-shops.
In the meantime 56 proceedings complexes with 400 accused persons have been received by the public prosecutor. The number of bodies for the processing of the procedures had been doubled from five to ten, said NRW Minister of Justice Peter Biesenbach (CDU).
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Cum and Ex: Simplified model of a dividend deal
For the currently 400 accused there is no statute of limitations, said Biesenbach. The public prosecutor's office does not rule out that further complexes will be discovered in which the parties would get away on statute of limitations.
Focus is on the main responsible of the scandal
The current group of accused reach from the "mastermind" on responsible persons in banks to the "small stooge," said prosecutor Torsten Elschenbroich. However, the judiciary will focus on the main responsible persons.
In cum-ex deals, investors used a loophole in the law and bounced the state down billions for years. Around the dividend record date, shares with ("cum") and no ("ex") dividend entitlement were moved back and forth between several participants - banks, investors, funds. The result of carousel transactions: certificates of capital gains tax have been issued several times. Tax offices ultimately refunded taxes that had not been paid.