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Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof at Munich's Stachus
Photo: Sven Simon / imago images
Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof (GKK) has not just been in crisis since the corona pandemic.
But the closings due to the spread of the epidemic hit Germany's most famous department store chain hard.
In March 2020, GKK took refuge in protective shield proceedings, which were concluded in autumn.
Allegedly renovated.
But now the public prosecutor's office in Essen has started investigations against members of the company's management for delaying bankruptcy, as the prosecution announced.
The procedure goes back to the criminal complaint of a private person, said a spokeswoman.
The public prosecutor's office had been dealing with the proceedings since the beginning of December, but the accused had not yet been approached.
You are at the beginning.
Group is examining legal steps
According to the »Süddeutscher Zeitung«, GKK is said to have been insolvent in January 2020 and not in March 2020.
At the beginning of April, the company filed for bankruptcy on its own.
Several cases of allegedly unpaid social security contributions and allegedly negotiated settlement offers are said to indicate this.
A confirmation for this information from the newspaper report is not yet available.
According to SPIEGEL information, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof is rather considering legal action against the medium.
There is nothing to be said about the accusation of delaying bankruptcy, the investigations by the public prosecutor's office are merely preliminary investigations, according to GKK.
According to the public prosecutor's office, there are only preliminary investigations in practice with people who enjoy immunity - however, the initial suspicion has yet to be confirmed.
In addition: Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof is still in a difficult situation.
In mid-January, DER SPIEGEL revealed that GKK was negotiating a state loan with the federal government.
In the meantime, there is apparently largely agreement: The ailing department store group should receive 460 million euros in tax money because the federal government considers it to be systemically relevant for the inner cities.
However, there are conditions.
The bankruptcy went hand in hand with a waiver of over two billion euros for the creditors of the department store chain, which had been ailing for years.
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apr / sbo / AFP