As of: February 19, 2024, 2:33 p.m
By: Lisa Mayerhofer
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The illuminated Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe) rises into the evening sky.
© Monika Skolimowska/dpa/archive image
The KaDeWe Group has filed for insolvency.
Now research into a possible dual role of the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers is raising questions.
Berlin – The luxury department store KaDeWe is a Berlin landmark – and bankrupt.
The KaDeWe Group, which also includes the Oberpollinger in Munich and the Alsterhaus in Hamburg, filed for bankruptcy at the end of January.
New research by the business magazine
Capital
sheds light on a potentially delicate dual role played by the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) towards KaDeWe, which suggests a conflict of interest.
KaDeWe insolvency and state guarantee: What was going on?
According to the unconfirmed report, KaDeWe received a federal government guarantee for a loan with the help of PwC in the first year of the corona pandemic - 2020.
The spicy thing: PwC also processes guarantee applications for the federal government, according to
Capital
.
This means that PwC not only works for the federal government, but also for the department store group and has a dual role with a possible conflict of interest, according to the report.
According to unconfirmed rumors, PwC will also be supporting the current insolvency proceedings.
The whole thing can also affect the taxpayer: they have to pay if the company cannot repay the government-guaranteed loan.
However, PwC contradicts the report and dismisses the fears as “unfounded”.
“PwC sees it as its task to build social trust and solve important problems,” said spokesman Sven Humann to the
Tagesspiegel
on Wednesday.
“Compliance with laws, standards and guidelines is a matter of course for us.”
Business partner: KaDeWe Group has not paid invoices
The KaDeWe Group is also trying to reassure: “The loan will be repaid as planned and the KaDeWe Group has already made repayments to the lender in the relevant amount,” a company spokesman told
taz
.
However, in the annual financial statements published later on Wednesday, it can be read that the company had only repaid ten million euros by 2022, according to the newspaper.
The fact that, according to business partners, KaDeWe has not paid its bills also gives little hope.
According to the cosmetics association VKE, the luxury department store company has recently not paid numerous invoices or only paid them after threatening legal action, said association managing director Andreas Fuhlisch to the German Press Agency.
KaDeWe Group did not respond to requests for comment.
The Grocery Newspaper
had previously
reported.
According to Fuhlisch, several companies informed the VKE in December about significant payment delays.
The association then wrote to KaDeWe twice in January.
Claims “in some cases of significant magnitude” were not paid or were only paid with considerable delays, the letter said.
This remained unanswered despite the deadline.
“We were irritated that we didn’t get any feedback,” said Fuhlisch.
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With material from dpa