“The authorities knew”
Twist in the case of the missing Tengelmann billionaire
By Liv von Boetticher
December 5, 2023, 4:33 p.m
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Around six months after the headlines about photos that allegedly show Tengelmann billionaire Karl-Erivan Haub in Moscow, the case takes a spectacular turn: RTL speaks to a contemporary witness who claims that German authorities are suspected of the family’s dubious Russian connections Haub knew.
What happened on that cold spring morning, on April 7, 2018, at the foot of the Matterhorn? Where did the billionaire CEO of the Tengelmann Group disappear to shortly after a surveillance camera at the Klein Matterhorn mountain station recorded him for the last time at 9:09 a.m.?
First, a large contingent of mountain rescuers and private security guards searched for the experienced alpinist in the crevasses throughout the ski area. But just seven days after his disappearance, a completely different conclusion was reached internally: a mountain accident was only 5 percent likely, and 90 percent likely that Karl-Erivan Haub, known as Charlie, had “disappeared” intentionally. The probability of a criminal background is 4 percent and suicide is 1 percent. This is what it says in the internal files of Tengelmann corporate security, which RTL/ntv/STERN are the first medium to have available on a large scale.
Just a few months later, in June 2018, private investigators were already looking for the missing man in Russia, shadowing suspected contacts on site, including a young woman, Veronika E. She would later be assigned to the Russian secret service environment. This is also stated in the internal Tengelmann investigation reports, which are classified as secret. Some time after the disappearance, the American secret services FBI and CIA began investigating Zermatt and questioned the internal Tengelmann investigators about their level of knowledge. Internal Tengelmann investigators conclude that Haub, who also has American citizenship, was apparently targeted by the American authorities because of his connections to Russia. That is also in the files.
“Certain processes”
But the German authorities seem to be of little interest in the mysterious disappearance. The question is whether Christian Haub, Karl-Erivan’s youngest brother and current company boss, had knowledge of the traces to Russia and whether he was particularly familiar with the pictures that presumably show his brother.
A contemporary witness speaks for the first time on RTL and says: “The authorities knew about it, but there was no approach to further investigations.” The man who speaks anonymously in front of the camera has worked closely with Karl-Erivan Haub for years. Tengelmann’s internal investigations had already been carried out before 2010 because a person from the Russian mafia’s environment was said to have appeared with a general power of attorney from the middle Haub brother, Georg. Former JP Morgan banker Francisco Guadamillas Cortes is said to have connections not only to the St. Petersburg mafia and Vladimir Putin, but also to Colombian drug cartels.
At this point, the contemporary witness’s descriptions correspond to the internal Tengelmann files, which are available to RTL/ntv/STERN. At that time, according to the witness, the German authorities were also contacted to assess the threat situation, namely the BKA and the BND. The authorities saw the threat situation, but apparently nothing was done. “But this investigation should have been started at the latest after Karl-Erivan’s disappearance,” the witness told RTL. But, says Karl-Erivan Haub’s confidant, the Russian business was purely a matter for the boss anyway. “Nothing” was known about the Russian business partners and “nothing was researched or examined.” From today’s perspective, based on everything that is now known, he cannot explain it.
“In my opinion, this entire process should obviously be taken care of. Both in the economic sense and in the political sense, so as not to have to continue any investigations. That is the only explanation I have for it.” We cannot verify whether this explanation may be correct. But What could be kept secret here? Where does the trail lead? “In order not to present certain events transparently to the public. You don’t necessarily always want that. Economic and political interests come together when it comes to German-Russian relations. When it comes to economic interests, when it comes to the general political situation. Maybe you want to you can’t do that.”
From a purely legal perspective, Karl-Erivan Haub may now have been declared dead. For journalists, the search for the missing Tengelmann boss continues.
You can see the entire interview with the contemporary witness this Tuesday at 10:35 p.m. on RTL Extra and from Wednesday for seven days on RTL+.
The 90-minute documentary “Tengelmann – The Mysterious Disappearance of the Billionaire” is also available on RTL+.
The Podimo podcast “The Tengelmann Files – A Billionaire Disappears” is also available on RTL+.