Christian Lindner prefers a high standard of living. That’s no secret – he likes to let the whole republic watch: Lindner’s Porsche, Linder’s wedding on Sylt, Germany knows the preferences of the Federal Minister of Finance. It is therefore not surprising that Lindner did not rummage around in the cheap segment when buying a private property. But how he financed this business now raises a lot of questions.
In January 2021, Lindner is said to have purchased a house in the Nikolassee district of Berlin. Alleged purchase price: 1.65 million euros, according to the news magazine The mirror. He got the loan for this from BBBank. And the details of this loan seem at least unusual.
Lindner received significantly more money than he would have needed to buy the house: a land charge of 2.35 million euros is registered in favor of BBBank. A year and a half later, his property is charged with another 450,000 euros. Even if one assumes that the house has a very high need for renovation, the amount borrowed is remarkable – whether and how much equity Lindner has raised and what interest rate applies to his loans, he and his lawyer left unanswered to the magazine. When SZ asked the Federal Ministry of Finance about the cause at the weekend, reference was made to Lindner’s lawyer: He had stated that all legal provisions had been complied with and that there were no irregularities.
As an MP, he apparently had a lucrative business relationship with BBBank
The terms of Lindner’s credit and whether he may have received preferential treatment are relevant for two reasons. On the one hand, in his current function as Federal Minister of Finance, Lindner reports to the banking supervisory authority Bafin. A very cheap loan would be at least politically sensitive, especially since Lindner was already a minister for the second part of the loan – i.e. the 450,000 euros.
Secondly, Lindner obviously had a lucrative business relationship with the bank during his time as a member of parliament. He gave lectures at several events or volunteered for an image video. The recording, which is said to have been published in 2018, is still available today on the bank’s website. In it, Lindner becomes fundamental. “I’m just a big believer in freedom,” he says. “I love mine. Love personal responsibility. Not having to say thank you to anyone.”
At least he would have had reason to thank BBBank, because in 2017 and 2019 alone he is said to have received a fee of between 35,000 and 73,000 euros for his services as a star guest at the bank’s “exclusive evenings”. The mirror refers to the reported additional income. At that time, they were only published in stages, so the totals cannot be specified exactly. In any case, Lindner also remained connected to the bank as a minister: last May he sent a congratulatory video to celebrate the institute’s 100th anniversary.