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Swiss court orders stolen German millions returned

Switzerland's supreme court on Thursday ordered Austrian bank UniCredit to pay Germany over 254 million euros ($333 million) to end a legal battle dating back to the fall of the Berlin Wall two decades ago.

Swiss court orders stolen German millions returned
Swiss supreme court in Lausanne. Photo: Bundesgericht
The ruling, upholding an earlier verdict by a lower court, concerns the transfer into a Swiss bank of 128 million euros from the communist East Germany after the impoverished country's demise in 1990.
   
This transfer by Rudolfine Steindling, a colourful Austrian communist dubbed "Fini the Red" who died last year, was conducted by a former subsidiary of Bank Austria, itself now part of Italy's UniCredit.
   
In the 1990s Germany, by then reunified, complained that Steindling had no right to the money, which was amassed by East Germany charging fees from Western firms investing there, and that Bank Austria knew this.
   
In March 2010, a Swiss court in Zurich ruled in favour of the German state and ordered the bank to pay the 128 million euros plus five percent interest dating back to 1994.
   
Since East and West Germany were reunified in 1990, the country has launched dozens of lawsuits in various jurisdictions to try to recover money stashed by the former regime.

   
Bank Austria said Thursday that it has already set aside sufficient money 
to repay the money, except for 70 million euros, and that it now planned new legal proceedings against Germany.

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GERMANY

Germany cracks down on fake Covid vaccine documents

German police have set up a special team to fight a growing number of forged vaccine certificates being sold in the black market

Germany cracks down on fake Covid vaccine documents
People who are fully vaccinated can show their vaccination booklet, which has a stamp and a sticker inside. Photo: Ina FASSBENDER / AFP

Police in Cologne have warned of a group of fraudsters selling fake vaccination certificates, a growing problem the scale of which is still unclear.

The police said the fraudsters worked in encrypted Telegram chats, making investigations difficult, and were selling fake documents with all the stamps and signatures, including a mark about vaccination with BioNTech or AstraZeneca.

READ ALSO: Germany probes Covid-19 testing centres for fraud

The fraud involved both real traffic in fake documents as well as scams luring customers into paying €100.

People in Germany who are fully vaccinated can show their vaccination booklet, which has a stamp and a sticker inside. Those who don’t have a booklet get a piece of paper.

Covid health passes are currently being rolled out across the EU, with a European health passport expected to be available from mid-June.

READ ALSO: What’s the latest on how the EU’s ‘Covid passports’ will work for travellers?

Over 44% of the adult population in Germany has received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, and more than 18% of Germans have been fully vaccinated.

German police have said forged coronavirus vaccine documents are becoming an increasing problem.

Last month, a couple in Baden-Württemberg was accused of selling fake coronavirus vaccination certificates.

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