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CDU leader Friedrich Merz
Photo: Christian Spicker / IMAGO
The CDU and the left consider the appearance of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in the Cum-Ex scandal to be implausible.
"Unfortunately, I have to say it so clearly: I don't believe a word the Chancellor says," said CDU leader Friedrich Merz to the "Handelsblatt".
In the afternoon, Scholz has to face questions from the MPs again in front of the Hamburg Cum-Ex investigative committee.
It was "simply completely unbelievable" if Scholz allegedly no longer wanted to remember such a serious event in his own city, said Merz.
"In Germany there is hardly anyone who takes away the many memory gaps from Olaf Scholz," speculated the CDU leader.
"When it comes to additional tax demands in the three-digit million range from such a large bank in your own city, you don't forget the content of the discussions that were held," Merz continued to consider.
In addition, Scholz has now had to admit to three conversations with the head of the Warburg bank concerned, after initially only wanting to admit one.
more on the subject
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Cum-ex affair in Hamburg: The chancellor and the revealing protocolBy manager-magazin editors Oliver Hollenstein and Oliver Schröm
Merz also criticized Scholz's close cooperation with the Hamburg SPD politician Johannes Kahrs.
A good 200,000 euros of unknown origin were recently found in a locker rented by Kahrs.
Criticism also from left-wing politician Fabio de Masi
Left-wing politician Fabio de Masi is also skeptical about Scholz's alleged memory gaps.
He called on Scholz on the NDR Info station to break his silence.
“But Scholz decided early on to the strategy of denying everything and only always admitting what journalists are pointing under his nose,” he continued.
According to de Masi, Scholz hopes to somehow get away with it, although he is becoming less and less credible.
However, the left-wing politician believes it is possible that the Warburg manager Christian Olearius or officials from the Hamburg tax authorities could still unpack the matter in the context of criminal proceedings.
For the second time, Scholz has to answer the questions of the Hamburg committee members about the Cum-Ex scandal.
They investigate whether he or other leading SPD politicians influenced the tax treatment of the Warburg Bank.
Scholz has repeatedly emphasized that as the first mayor of Hamburg, he had no political influence so that the Warburg Bank would not have to pay back millions in taxes due to cum-ex transactions.
mfh/AFP
