Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

German ‘mastermind’ in huge tax fraud scam arrested

German lawyer Hanno Berger, the alleged mastermind in the so-called "cum-ex" tax fraud that cost European treasuries billions of euros, has been arrested in Switzerland, AFP learnt Friday.

Published: 10 July 2021 09:58 CEST
German 'mastermind' in huge tax fraud scam arrested
Courtroom where trial about "Cum-Ex" share deals took place in March 2021. Photo: Boris Roessler / POOL / AFP

The suspect was arrested on Wednesday (July 7th) in the eastern Swiss canton of Graubuenden by police acting on an arrest warrant from German authorities, the Swiss justice ministry said.

The ministry did not name the suspect, but AFP learnt from sources speaking on condition of anonymity that he is Berger.

The man is challenging his extradition to Germany, the ministry said, adding that the case was being examined.

He is believed to be the mastermind behind the fraudulent scheme, and acted as a middleman for investors involved in the scam.

German prosecutors have accused Berger of serious organised fraud. If convicted, Berger risks up to 10 years in prison.

First exposed in 2017, the scam involved numerous cooperating participants quickly exchanging stock in companies amongst themselves around dividend day, in order to claim multiple tax rebates on a single payout.

Used across Europe, this practice cost Germany €7.2 billion ($8.5 billion), Denmark €1.7 billion and Belgium €201 million since 2001, according to European media outlets including German broadcaster ARD.

Around 100 people have been indicted over the scandal, including bankers, stock traders, lawyers and financial consultants, according to daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

CRIME

Teenager turns self in after attack on German politician

A 17-year-old has turned himself in to police in Germany after an attack on a lawmaker that the country's leaders decried as a threat to democracy.

Published: 5 May 2024 12:52 CEST
Teenager turns self in after attack on German politician

The teenager reported to police in the eastern city of Dresden early Sunday morning and said he was “the perpetrator who had knocked down the SPD politician”, police said in a statement.

Matthias Ecke, 41, European parliament lawmaker for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), was set upon by four attackers as he put up EU election posters in Dresden on Friday night, according to police.

Ecke was “seriously injured” and required an operation after the attack, his party said.

Scholz on Saturday condemned the attack as a threat to democracy.

“We must never accept such acts of violence,” he said.

Ecke, who is head of the SPD’s European election list in the Saxony region, was just the latest political target to be attacked in Germany.

Police said a 28-year-old man putting up posters for the Greens had been “punched” and “kicked” earlier in the evening on the same Dresden street.

Last week two Greens deputies were abused while campaigning in Essen in western Germany and another was surrounded by dozens of demonstrators in her car in the east of the country.

According to provisional police figures, 2,790 crimes were committed against politicians in Germany in 2023, up from 1,806 the previous year, but less than the 2,840 recorded in 2021, when legislative elections took place.

A group of activists against the far right has called for demonstrations against the attack on Ecke in Dresden and Berlin on Sunday, Der Spiegel magazine said.

According to the Tagesspiegel newspaper, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is planning to call a special conference with Germany’s regional interior ministers next week to address violence against politicians.

SHOW COMMENTS