Cum-Ex affair never ends
E-mails cast a bad light on Scholz
08/22/2023, 08:15 am
Does he remember or doesn’t he remember? When it comes to dealing with the Warburg Bank tax affair, Olaf Scholz regularly refers to lapses in memory. Only his official calendar should be able to prove appointments with the banker Olearius. There is only doubt about that.
E-mails from Olaf Scholz’s closest environment raise new questions about his role in the Cum-Ex affair surrounding the Warburg Bank. As the “star” reportsScholz’s own office manager could not find the calendar entry with which Scholz had previously confirmed a meeting with the then Warburg co-owner Christian Olearius in November 2017.
“That irritates me,” wrote Jeanette Schwamberger, Scholz’s long-time office manager, in April 2021 to Scholz’s confidante and today’s Chancellor Wolfgang Schmidt and to today’s government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit. “I’ve never seen an appointment with Olearius from November 2017 on the calendar. Not even an appointment in October 2017. It’s all strange, but we’re all through the calendar.” Schmidt replied: “The appointment was in November 2017. And I also remember that we saw that.” The e-mails are available to “Stern”.
The correspondence goes to the heart of Scholz’s defense strategy. The SPD politician himself had confirmed talks with Olearius years ago, but repeatedly referred to his calendar. He has no personal memory of the meeting. In the light of the e-mails between Schmidt and Schwamberger that have now become known, this argument loses credibility.
At the end of April 2021, the then Federal Finance Minister said before the Hamburg Parliament’s investigative committee about the missing calendar entries that, due to an IT problem in his ministry, from mid-October 2017 “only appointments from my predecessor, Federal Minister Altmaier” could be found in the calendar. “In this respect, I assume that the meeting will have taken place, even if I have no personal memory of it.”
LKA also does not find an Olearius date
The State Criminal Police Office in Düsseldorf was also unable to find a corresponding calendar entry – but certainly dates after mid-October 2017. The authority, which confiscated an e-mail inbox from Scholz as part of its investigation, has now evaluated it. Eight dates have been set for November 10, 2017, from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. An appointment with Olearius, which he noted in his diary, is not recorded. Steffen Hebestreit, the chancellor’s spokesman, did not answer questions about the emails referring to responsibilities.
During his time as Hamburg mayor, Scholz met Christian Olearius, chairman of the Warburg supervisory board, three times when the bank was being investigated for tax evasion. The banker sought the help of the SPD politician to prevent the tax office from demanding repayment of millions because of so-called cum-ex transactions. Scholz denies having any influence on the matter. He only confirmed his meetings with Olearius after they had been made public in the media.