What role does the Chancellor play in the Wirecard scandal?
Angela Merkel has to face a committee of inquiry on Friday.
Berlin - Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) will be questioned on Friday (10:00 a.m.) in the investigative committee about the accounting scandal at the former Dax company Wirecard.
She campaigned for Wirecard on a trip to China in September 2019.
At that time, critical media reports on the scandalous company were already known - according to a government spokesman, Merkel knew nothing of possible serious irregularities at Wirecard at the time of the trip.
Wirecard scandal: Chancellor Merkel is questioned by the investigative committee
The members of the committee of inquiry also want to ask Merkel about lobbying in the Chancellery.
Before the trip to China, the Chancellor had a visit from former Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, who worked as a lobbyist for Wirecard and referred Merkel to the company.
Wirecard wanted to expand its business in China at the time.
The Chancellor's commitment was worth gold for the scandalous company, say the members of the investigative committee - also because Wirecard was able to counter critics with it.
In this way, Merkel * unintentionally contributed to an extension of the alleged balance sheet fraud.
Government responsibility for Wirecard scandal?
Scholz speaks of an "absurd fairy tale"
Wirecard then admitted last summer that 1.9 billion euros could not be found on the balance sheet.
The Munich public prosecutor assumes that Wirecard has been falsifying its balance sheets since at least 2015.
SPD Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz had already testified in the investigative committee on Thursday and spoke of an "absurd fairy tale".
The finance minister said: “The federal government does not bear the responsibility for this large-scale fraud.” The company had evidently acted with a high level of criminal energy.
(lks / dpa)
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