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Gorch Fock after its renovation in Stralsund
PHOTO: JOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP
The Gorch Fock has sailed to the Canary Islands. The Elsflether shipyard has been wound up. What is left of the scandalous company, idyllically situated on the Weser, lies in the Mongolian steppe, two days' journey by off-road vehicle from the capital Ulan Bator. There is a gold mine between rocks and rubble. The former managing director Marcus R. is said to have bought it with the money from the Elsflether shipyard. The operators dug 18 kilograms of the precious metal in the mine in 2021. She is for sale. After that, the insolvency administrators want to close the Elsflether Werft files.
Now the judicial processing of the affair about the shipyard and the famous naval training ship Gorch Fock is to begin, the renovation costs of which have risen from less than ten million euros to 135 million euros.
For the central office for criminal corruption cases at the Osnabrück public prosecutor's office, this is the largest case since it was founded in 2009. At least two cases are to take place before the district court in Oldenburg and at the district court in Brake, Lower Saxony.
According to SPIEGEL research, eight suspects from the vicinity of the shipyard have received indictments.
More are to follow.
more on the subject
Investigations against subcontractors: The "Gorch Fock" criminal file by Matthias Gebauer and Hubert Gude
The procedure was triggered by a self-report by the marine auditor Peter G. in 2018. During searches, the Oldenburg police investigators came across a suspected system of self-service and corruption at the Elsflether shipyard.
For three years, the Soko determined "water": 65 searches, 98 suspects, 116 investigations.
Most have now been hired against payment of monetary conditions.
Almost 840,000 euros for the auditor
The main defendants are the former managing directors of the shipyard, Klaus W. and Marcus R. The former board members of the shipyard are said to have given the auditor Peter G., who was also responsible for the famous sailing training ship Gorch Fock, a loan of 800,000 euros.
The marine inspector had his own office on the shipyard site, but apparently the work wasn't enough for him. He also invested in a retirement home – and ran into financial difficulties. The managers of the shipyard offered a way out: according to the investigation, they gave him 400,000 euros each in two tranches. One of the two loans went through a company that Klaus W. and Marcus R. had founded privately: Intermartec. Its managing director signed the loan agreement. He is also charged. In addition, the shipyard is said to have generously supported the auditor with expensive machines worth several thousand euros.
Dogan GmbH in Heikendorf near Kiel also paid the auditor. The Schleswig-Holstein company worked as a subcontractor for the Elsflether shipyard on several naval projects. Her specialty: she cleaned the ships and provided them with corrosion protection and new paint. The public prosecutor's office has now accused two senior employees of Dogan GmbH of "granting an advantage". They are said to have transferred a total of 37,000 euros to Peter G. in three installments, allegedly as consultant fees.
What was the purpose of the alleged bribe payments to the marine auditor?
Should Peter G. turn a blind eye to the company invoices?
The corruption investigators found no evidence for this thesis.
In the indictment, Peter G. is only accused of "taking advantage".
The marine auditor could not be reached for comment.
The former board members of Elsflether Werft and Dogan GmbH left SPIEGEL inquiries about the allegations unanswered.
The Elsflether shipyard as a bank
Another complex of investigations involves significantly more money: the two ex-bosses Klaus W. and Marcus R. are said to have embezzled 19.5 million euros from the shipyard's assets since 2009.
According to the indictment, they made a number of loans to themselves or to companies they had founded.
According to the investigation, they put the money into dazzling projects, such as the production of a TV film or the purchase of the mine in Mongolia.
Many of these loans went through Intermartec, whose managing director is also one of the accused in this case.
The former authorized signatory of the shipyard and today's wife of the board member Klaus W. also received a complaint.
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The insolvent Elsflether shipyard in early 2019
Photo: Helmut Reuter/ DPA
There were a number of loans.
Sometimes it was about a few 10,000, sometimes more than 100,000 euros.
The loans had one thing in common: the shipyard did not ask for any collateral, and the investigators only found evidence of repayment installments in exceptional cases.
The money was lost for the shipyard.
With the many loans, the ex-bosses bled the Elsflether shipyard, which belonged to a foundation, financially, according to the investigators.
The once healthy company, which had made millions from its contracts for the repair and refurbishment of naval ships like the Gorch Fock, fell into increasing financial difficulties.
According to the indictment, the shipyard was said to have been de facto insolvent in May 2018.
The ex-board members did not file for bankruptcy at the time.
Even after the shipyard's insolvency, they are said to have siphoned off 2.4 million euros in loans.
Because of infidelity in a particularly serious case, Klaus W. and Marcus R. face a prison sentence of up to ten years.
The public prosecutor's office also accuses them of unauthorized banking transactions because of the loans.
Also: delay in bankruptcy and violation of the accounting obligation.
Kickback payments at Navy expense?
During their investigations in Elsfleth, the investigators soon came across conspicuous calculations.
The shipyard worked with more than 100 subcontractors.
Once an order has been completed and settled with the federal government, the shipyard is said to have cashed in on the subcontractors.
The companies subsequently had to adjust their final invoices to the shipyard downwards.
Most of the time it was 15 percent.
The public prosecutor evaluates these payments as »bribery in commercial transactions«. Accordingly, the discounts should secure further orders from the Elsflether shipyard for the companies. Project managers and employees of the shipyard are said to have been involved in the system of kickback payments. The public prosecutor's office conducted 24 investigations against employees of the shipyard. Most of them have now been stopped against payment of monetary conditions of between 1,500 and 5,000 euros - as have the proceedings against many of the shipyard's subcontractors.
However, this is not the case with two large subcontractors. The responsible managers of the companies are soon to answer before the district court in Brake. Among the accused in these proceedings: the bosses of Dogan GmbH in Heikendorf. In twelve cases they are said to have granted subsequent discounts. The second subcontractor, whose managing director is accused, is based in Hamburg. From the orders from the Navy, around one million euros are said to have subsequently flowed back to the shipyard from the Hamburg company.
It's about money that would have been due to the Navy. Because the contractors are legally obliged to pass on all price reductions to the federal government. The public prosecutor's office is therefore investigating the ex-board members of the Elsflether shipyard in this complex because of "commercial fraud". Overall, the Navy and thus the federal government could have lost up to 18 million euros through the kick-back payments. The investigation has not yet been completed.
In December, the federal government filed a civil lawsuit for damages against Klaus W., Marcus R. and the managing director of Intermartec.
The federal government is one of a number of those affected.
Many subcontractors are also among those injured in the insolvency proceedings at Elsflether Werft, which left unpaid invoices amounting to several million euros.
The insolvency administrators are assuming total damage of 74 million euros.
The sale of the gold mine in Mongolia will probably hardly reduce this sum.
According to a report, it is worth between 600,000 and five million euros.