1.
In the Wirecard case, Munich public prosecutors issued arrest warrants much too late - and thus enabled the suspect ex-board member Jan Marsalek to escape
It always sounds like a strange compliment to criminals when someone says that the details of a crime are so ludicrous or so tricky that no crime writer could have come up with them.
"The invented can never keep pace with reality," said US author John Grisham, a grand master of suspense literature, of all people.
In the case of the billion-dollar fraud involving the Wirecard company, four of my colleagues have now discovered new details about one of the alleged main culprits in this spectacular criminal case.
"How Jan Marsalek played cat and mouse with the public prosecutor's office" is the title of her report, which sometimes reads like an interesting crime story.
Icon: enlargePhoto:
Leopold Fiala
For example, you can find out that the recently released Wirecard manager Marsalek on the evening of June 18, 2020 - the day when the balance sheet hole at Wirecard became known and the company's share price had crashed - at an Italian in Munich Downtown dined for dinner.
Namely with Martin W., a buddy and former head of the Austrian secret service BVT.
Marsalek, suspected of accounting fraud, among other things, is said to have commissioned his dinner companion to organize a flight to Minsk for the next day.
On the evening of June 19, Marsalek flew in a Cessna from Bad Vöslau in Austria to Belarus, after which his track is lost.
In the report by my colleagues Tim Bartz, David Böcking, Martin Hesse and Gerald Traufetter, it becomes clear how hesitantly the Bavarian authorities were still investigating the Aschheim near Munich company when reports from a British hedge fund engaged by Wirecard and the German financial regulator Bafin have long been reported against the Wirecard management.
The files, e-mails and information available to SPIEGEL show how the manager Marsalek managed to escape - "with chutzpah, luck, but possibly also because the public prosecutor's office was too hesitant at crucial moments."
The Munich public prosecutors, for example, initiated proceedings because of an "initial suspicion of accounting fraud", but refrained from issuing arrest warrants early on "due to the low range of punishment".
"From today's perspective it is clear: the Munich public prosecutor's office underestimated the dynamism of the scandal and missed the opportunity to arrest Jan Marsalek in good time," says my colleague Tim Bartz.
“Today he is over the mountains, and as the most important witness of the fraud system, no longer tangible.
The fact that the omissions of the financial supervisory authority Bafin are far greater is little consolation. "
Wirecard fraud in billions: How Jan Marsalek played cat and mouse with the public prosecutor
2.
Unfortunately, the vaccination against Corona continues to be slow - and a legal expert is urgently calling for a rule for cases of hardship
The dispute that the EU Commission and the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca have been publicly waging for days now seems like a cat-and-mouse game to me.
The matter is about the delivery times and delivery quantities of a corona vaccine, which is already inoculated in some countries such as Great Britain and was finally approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in the EU for people aged 18 and over.
In the past few days, some politicians have called for the production of vaccines to be expanded quickly - for example by converting existing factories.
My colleagues Florian Gontek, Martin U. Müller and Thomas Schulz describe why it is so difficult to produce more vaccine quickly in a story that makes it clear to readers how complicated the pharmaceutical business is.
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Markus Schreiber / dpa
My colleague Dietmar Hipp conducted an interview with legal expert Thorsten Kingreen about the question of how to deal with the vaccines available in Germany.
Some of the statements made by the man who, as a professor at the University of Regensburg, teaches health law, among other things, amazed me.
From a legal point of view, Kingreen finds it questionable that vaccines that are left over after a vaccination in old people's and nursing homes, for example, are spontaneously injected into fire fighters.
"The problem is that the lucky ones who were in the right place at the right time need a second vaccination in three weeks," he says.
The legal expert does not consider the vaccination sequence determined by the Federal Ministry of Health to be constitutional, but to be in great need of discussion.
The ministry has issued an ordinance "without the formal participation of the Bundestag," complains the professor.
"It is therefore no wonder that the discussion is only now starting."
Above all, Kingreen demands clear regulations for hardship cases such as cancer patients and people from risk groups.
"When determining the sequence of vaccinations, certain groups were completely overlooked," says my colleague Dietmar, "for example physically handicapped people or people for whom a previous illness or upcoming chemotherapy lead to a far higher risk of developing Covid-19." People who, for individual reasons, are at high risk do not generally refer to vaccinations with the penultimate or even last group.
Ideally, said Dietmar, the Bundestag should create a legal basis for cases of hardship.
“This is about people who postpone urgent surgery or therapy because they shouldn't be vaccinated for a few months.
Of course, these people could also sue, but basically nobody wants the courts to rule on the right to be vaccinated. "
Bomb threats, hacker attacks, forces of nature: why it is so difficult to produce more vaccine quickly
Covid-19: Ema recommends AstraZeneca vaccine for all ages 18+
Corona vaccination: "Then you can only throw away the remaining cans"
3. The tickets for buses and trains are becoming more expensive, the cost of driving lower, politics could change that - for example with a city toll
Could it be that the corona crisis has made many people forget the threat posed by climate change a bit?
In the science magazine "Science" recently, a few experts have impressively calculated that even a small portion of the corona aid packages approved by politicians worldwide, allegedly 12 trillion US dollars, would be enough to meet the goals set in the Paris climate protection agreement to move at least within reach.
In Germany there is little discussion about such findings, while many more people than usual prefer to get around in their own car rather than on public transport for fear of corona infection.
Icon: enlarge Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka / dpa
My colleague Emil Nefzger reports that before and during the pandemic, the prices for tickets in buses and trains rose significantly more than the costs for drivers.
"Anyone who commutes to work by train pays extra," is the name of his text about an evaluation by Allianz pro Schiene based on data from the Federal Statistical Office, which SPIEGEL has available.
Accordingly, passengers in local rail transport paid an average of 16 percent more last year than in 2015. Driving, on the other hand, was only four percent more expensive.
Despite the CO2 tax, driving a car is even cheaper compared to the sixties and seventies, the readers learn.
In view of the climate goals of the Federal Government and the European Union, this cost development is of course by no means desirable.
The Hamburg economist Wolfgang Maennig explained to my colleague Emil which political decisions, in his opinion, could induce people to behave more environmentally friendly.
Among other things, Maennig proposes a city toll, the income of which could flow into local public transport - but he also has another proposal: "Everyone who allows a car must buy an additional annual subscription for local public transport."
Comparison with the car: If you commute by train, you pay more
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What else is important today
Believers rebel against Cardinal Woelki:
Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki from Cologne has been criticized for months because he keeps an abuse report under lock and key.
Now the diocesan council is resisting - and hiring the allegiance.
China has executed
former top
bankers:
China carried out the death sentence against a former top manager.
Lai Xiaomin is said to have received large bribes.
But he was also accused of having an extramarital relationship.
According to the expert, hidden explosives were ready for use:
An elite soldier of the Bundeswehr buried weapons and explosives in underground depots.
An expert has now assessed the seized materials before the Leipzig regional court.
Cabinet decides to drastically restrict travel:
In the fight against corona mutations, the federal government is taking drastic measures: According to SPIEGEL information, entry from Brazil, South Africa, Great Britain, Ireland or Portugal is largely prohibited from Saturday.
What we recommend today at SPIEGEL +
Scholz relies on the debt brake:
The finance minister needs money, but the debt brake should not be relaxed.
What now?
That is in the blackened passages of the AstraZeneca contract:
The EU Commission apparently made a serious glitch when it published the vaccine contract with AstraZeneca: Parts of blacked out passages are legible - and contain some interesting information.
"Some laboratories deserve a Ferrari every day":
University hospitals cannot test enough patients because they are at a disadvantage when it comes to supplying the chemicals they need.
The pharmaceutical industry prefers to cash in with large laboratories.
Why Pets Make Us Healthier and Happier:
Scientific studies show that dogs, cats and guinea pigs are good for the mind and body.
Especially in times of crisis they give people a zest for life.
How do you do that?
The SPIEGEL cover story.
The von der Leyen method:
The EU Commission chief reacts to the shortage and chaos of the vaccine as to the many other crises in her career.
Can she get away with it again?
Which is not so important today
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Hulton Archive / Getty Images
Quantum physics creates television history:
Julia Roberts, a Hollywood star admired by many people, was persuaded to appear in the grandiose sitcom "Friends" through an essay on quantum physics.
Matthew Perry, a star in the legendary series about six friends in New York, produced from 1994 to 2004, asked the then famous Roberts a quarter of a century ago to star in an episode.
To which the actress, as the news site "Hollywood Reporter" reports, is said to have responded: "Write me an essay on quantum physics and I'll do it." Perry dutifully faxed a more or less learned text - and Roberts was impressed.
In 1996 she actually appeared in "Friends".
Typo of the day
, corrected in the meantime: "In all three regions in which it is being tested - in the USA, Latin America and South Africa."
Cartoon of the day:
trust
Icon: enlarge Photo: Thomas Plaßmann
And tonight?
For people who, like me, are passionate about theater, lockdown is a time of privation.
So it is a pleasure that one of the greatest younger directors in German-speaking theater, the Australian Simon Stone, 36, is now presenting his third feature film.
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Scene from "The Excavation": They still exist, the good, old historical dramas
Photo:
Larry Horricks / Netflix
»The Excavation« takes place in the south of Great Britain in 1938 and is characterized by fear of the outbreak of the Second World War.
Carey Mulligan embodies a delicate rich widow and Ralph Fiennes a funny, quirky amateur archaeologist.
In the most dramatic scene of the film, the heroine digs the hero, who was buried by accident, practically with her bare hands from the ground.
The overall somewhat crumbly love drama "The Excavation" runs from today on Netflix.
A lovely evening.
Sincerely,
Wolfgang Höbel
Here you can order the "Lage am Abend" by email.