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Jan Böhmermann, Fynn Kliemann: »It was wrong not to say that production takes place in Bangladesh«
Photo: Vennenbernd;
Dittrich / dpa
In the mask affair surrounding Fynn Kliemann, the fashion retailer About You contradicted the information provided by the influencer.
About You did not know that some of the respirators from Global Tactics, with which Kliemann works, were produced outside of Europe.
Kliemann had previously claimed in a video on Instagram that About You had heard about it, and literally said: "According to Global Tactics, all buyers of these masks were informed in advance about the country of origin."
About You boss Tarek Müller replied to the Instagram statement on Twitter: Kliemann's statements were incorrect;
Global Tactics have stated that the masks come from Europe.
Müller wrote that he had also informed Kliemann about this.
"Unfortunately, the statement and Insta video were already out and, according to Fynn, could not be taken back."
Böhmermann accuses Kliemann of mask fraud
The background is research by »ZDF Magazin Royale«, moderated by Jan Böhmermann.
A long contribution to Kliemann's mask shops in the pandemic was shown on the show.
The influencer and businessman is said to have misled the public about the production location and conditions of the masks.
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Fynn Kliemann: »I was just never asked about it«
Photo: IMAGO/Nicole Kubelka / IMAGO/Future Image
According to the magazine, Global Tactics had the masks produced in Bangladesh and Vietnam at low cost.
In April 2020 – at the beginning of the corona pandemic, when fabric masks were in short supply – Kliemann himself advertised “fairly produced, reusable mouth coverings from Europe” online.
In his program, Jan Böhmermann quoted from several text messages that the YouTuber and entrepreneur had written.
These suggest that Kliemann himself may have favored Bangladesh as a production location and deliberately concealed this origin.
In addition, Kliemann and his business partner are said to have ensured that 100,000 faulty masks were donated to refugee camps in Bosnia and Greece.
Kliemann claims he was never asked where the masks came from
Global Tactics founder Tom Illbruck admitted on Friday that masks were also produced in Bangladesh.
If, for example, a major customer did not attach importance to the masks expressly coming from a certain country or from Europe, "we offered masks without explicitly saying where the masks came from," he told the dpa news agency.
Regarding the business with About You, Illbruck explained: »According to the documents we have, there are no agreements with About You that the masks came explicitly from Portugal and this has not been assured in writing at any point.«
more on the subject
Fynn Kliemann reacts to allegations of fraud: »Of course you think: hey, we make money here!« An interview by Jonas Leppin and Anton Rainer
Fynn Kliemann, who apologized several times in his Instagram video, also commented on the allegations in a SPIEGEL interview on Friday.
He himself only sold the masks made in Europe, the production from Bangladesh was only intended for major customers like About You.
And: “I have never denied that Global Tactics masks are produced in Bangladesh.
I was just never asked about it.« But it was wrong not to mention the country of origin.
»I should have said that at the latest with the questionnaire from ZDF.«
After the revelations, numerous business partners distanced themselves from Kliemann.
FC St. Pauli stopped a planned project and expressly reserved the right to take legal action.
The German Sustainability Award Foundation, which Kliemanns recently honored, withdrew the award from him.
In the meantime, the association "We're going to do it," which provides emergency aid for refugees and distributed Kliemann's masks on the Greek island of Chios, wrote that they felt "betrayed and betrayed."
The association initially considered the offer from Global Tactics to be a "godsend": "We were very happy about the 'reusable' masks offered at cost price, which were to be delivered directly from Portugal to Chios." If the allegations are true, it would be »the very worst thing about it« the »doing business on the backs of those seeking protection, of people fleeing war and misery, who need protection instead of fraud«.
slue/dpa
