The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Wirecard: Friedrich Merz met Wirecard boss Markus Braun twice

2020-12-30T12:53:01.277Z


According to SPIEGEL information, the CDU politician Friedrich Merz had several contacts with the ex-Wirecard boss Markus Braun, who has now been imprisoned. They talked about "general capital market issues".


Icon: enlarge

Friedrich Merz: CDU party chairman with connections

Photo: Michael Kappeler / DPA

Friedrich Merz, candidate for the CDU party chairmanship, also had contact with ex-Wirecard boss Markus Braun: During his time as supervisory board chairman of the German branch of the US asset manager Blackrock, Merz Braun met twice, a spokesman for the politician confirmed to SPIEGEL .

The spokesman confirmed that there was a first meeting between Merz and Braun in November 2018 at the hotel “Das Tegernsee” on the lake of the same name in Bavaria, and a second in September 2019 at the Wirecard headquarters in Aschheim near Munich.

The meeting in Aschheim only lasted half an hour, as Braun was late and had to leave early.

The content of the talks was in each case "general capital market topics". 

However, there were no private contacts or invitations between Merz and Braun, according to Merz's office.

At the same time, the spokesman assured that Merz had "never" had discussions with the federal government or supervisory authorities about Wirecard.

Since the second meeting there has been no contact, not even by phone, with Braun or other Wirecard managers.

Braun, who is currently in custody, had frequent contact with active or former politicians during his time as Wirecard boss.

At the beginning of November 2019, for example, he met Jörg Kukies, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance - at a time when the auditors from KPMG were investigating the company to investigate allegations of fraud.

The devastating verdict of the special report published at the end of April 2020 was the beginning of the end of Wirecard's supposed growth story.

The former Dax group is said to have falsified its balance sheets for years;

Top managers are suspected of embezzling millions.

Braun had also used the services of ex-minister of economics Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg for the rise of the company, who had supported Chancellor Angela Merkel for Wirecard's market entry in China.

Hamburg's former mayor Ole von Beust also camouflaged for Wirecard and Braun.

In addition, Braun was regarded as having excellent connections in the political scene in his home country Austria.

"If you want to become Chancellor, you should bring economic expertise and judgment."

Merz had hired Blackrock as chairman of the supervisory board in 2016 and ended the mandate again in March 2020 after it was clear that CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer would give up her position.

Merz is currently applying for the CDU chairmanship alongside North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Armin Laschet and ex-Federal Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen.

The winner has a good chance of becoming the Union's next candidate for chancellor.

more on the subject

  • Rising and relegated in the economy: who won in the Corona year - and who lost

  • During the investigation: head of the supervisory authority traded in Wirecard shares

  • Icon: Spiegel Plus Was Markus Braun a leader or a useful idiot?: The Wireclan by Tim Bartz and Martin Hesse

Fabio De Masi, financial expert on the left and member of the parliamentary committee of inquiry to investigate the Wirecard affair, does not consider the meeting between Merz and Braun to be reprehensible per se.

"But anyone who was a member of the supervisory board and wants to become chancellor should bring economic expertise and judgment with them" and therefore clarify whether they have asked Braun critical questions.

"The parliamentary committee of inquiry would be an ideal place for this, albeit less idyllic than the Tegernsee," said De Masi.

At the same time, the left-wing politician pointed out that Braun and Burkhard Ley, formerly Wirecard's CFO and later advisor to the group, had appeared on the CDU Economic Council, whose Vice President Merz is.

Wirecard and Blackrock also supported the association's events.

Icon: The mirror

Source: spiegel

All business articles on 2020-12-30

You may like

News/Politics 2024-03-24T16:44:36.875Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.