Before Hamburg elections: SPD and Olaf Scholz under pressure because of "cum-ex" affair

Before the elections in Hamburg, the SPD blows an icy wind in the face: did Olaf Scholz, as the mayor of the city at the time, cost tens of millions? The investigation is ongoing.

• In 2016, the tax authorities had a Warburg Bank tax liability lapse.
• What does a meeting of the then mayor Olaf Scholz have to do with the head of the bank ?
• This is an unfavorable time for the SPD - after all, citizenship elections take place in a week.

Update from February 15, 2020:

In the

"Cum-Ex" affair

to supposedly be given away

Million Euros

Tax money in Hamburg have the main owners of the

Warburg Bank

the allegations of influencing tax matters were rejected as "false allegations". "The bank has never made inadmissible, illegal claims or wishes to the

Tax administration

or

politicians personalities

agile ”, it said in a five-page letter published on Saturday in Hamburg by the lawyers of the main commercial owners, Max M. Warburg and Christian Olearius. At the same time, however, it goes without saying that bank representatives had discussions with everyone.

According to media reports, the tax authorities had a tax liability of Warburg Bank of EUR 47 million from 2009 that was time-barred. A meeting with the then mayor of Olaf Scholz (SPD) in Hamburg in November 2017 emerged from "Zeit" and the NDR magazine "Panorama" diary entries of the then bank boss Olearius , in which the situation of the bank in the ongoing cum-ex- Investigations should have been discussed.

Before Hamburg elections: SPD and Olaf Scholz under pressure because of "cum-ex" affair

A spokesman for Scholz had confirmed on Thursday that the date was also on the calendar of today's Vice Chancellor . Since then, the pressure on the Hamburg SPD has increased . The FDP has called for a special meeting of the Committee on Budgets a week before the general election on Sunday, the left calls for a committee of inquiry. The green coalition partner also saw many open questions.

Hamburg's first mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD), at that time a finance senator, had rejected the suspicion of interference. "There is no political influence on decisions by the tax authorities in Hamburg ."

In the declaration, the Warburg Bank owners also assured that the bank had paid the purchase price "with (!) The capital gains tax to the custodian bank" when buying "cum" shares. However, Deutsche Bank did not transfer the tax to the tax authorities. "If Warburg Bank paid the € 47 million, it would pay twice!"

Before Hamburg elections: SPD and Olaf Scholz in need of explanation due to "cum-ex" affair

First report from February 14:

Hamburg - After the meeting of the then Mayor Olaf Scholz with the boss of the Warburg Bank , which was heavily burdened in the "cum-ex" scandal , the pressure on the Hamburg SPD increases - just a week before the citizens' election, despite good polls. The federal taxpayers demanded that Scholz's successor Peter Tschentscher be given complete information , the left a committee of inquiry and the FDP a special meeting of the budget committee before the election on February 23 (click here for Wahl-O-Mat).

Germany suffered billions in damage from “cum-ex” business

In “cum-ex” transactions, shares with (“cum”) and without (“ex”) dividend entitlement were moved back and forth between several parties around the dividend date. In the end, the tax authorities no longer knew who the papers belonged to . Tax authorities reimbursed capital gains taxes that had not been paid at all. The state suffered a billion dollar damage :

According to media reports, the tax authorities had a tax liability of Warburg Bank of EUR 47 million from 2009 that was time- barred .

The green coalition partner also sees "still many unanswered questions", for example regarding the limitation of the repayment of 47 million euros in taxpayers' money, as parliamentary group leader Anjes Tjarks said on Friday. "Peter Tschentscher, then the finance senator, had to explain how this could have happened," Tjarks told dpa .

Scholz and Tschentscher: political influence in Hamburg?

"And there are also questions regarding the meeting between Olaf Scholz and (the former Warburg bank manager) Christian Olearius, " Tjarks said. The impression of political influence during ongoing tax investigations should be clarified urgently. He also finds it problematic that Scholz - today's Federal Minister of Finance - only wants to comment on this after the citizens' election in the budget committee of the Bundestag , said Tjarks.

# CumEx scandal becomes a campaign issue in #Hamburg. Remarkable how Olaf Scholz rides in his successor Peter Tschentscher, regardless of (vote) losses ... via @zeitonline #PanoramaARD https://t.co/hXlt5dGfOB

FDP parliamentary leader Anna von Treuenfels-Frowein said that the citizens had to find out whether "Tschentscher had" given "their tax money to a large private bank." There were serious accusations in the room. "We demand complete clarification."

Tschentscher rejected the suspicion of interference . "There is no political influence on decisions by the tax authorities in Hamburg," he said in the ZDF morning magazine . There are no outside parties in the tax process. "The tax process is led by the tax offices and the tax law experts of the tax authority, and the decisions are made there strictly according to legal criteria."

On February 23, the Hamburg elected a new state parliament. The SPD with the First Mayor Tschentscher is in the favorites position.

PF / dpa