Mask deals: Tax investigations against Andrea Tandler

The daughter of the former CSU General Secretary Tandler has received high commissions from Emix mask stores and may not have correctly taxed them. Investigate tax investigation and public prosecutor’s office.

The Swiss company Emix Trading has earned very well in mask deals with the federal and state governments. In addition to the many question marks surrounding the mask business with the Free State of Bavaria, there is another: There is a suspicion that commissions were not correctly taxed. The mask business was brokered by Andrea Tandler – via the email address of her Munich PR agency. This emerges from a response from the Bavarian Ministry of Health to a request from the Greens.

The commissions that Emix Trading is said to have paid to Andrea Tandler, however, apparently went to another company that she and a business partner own: Little Penguin GmbH, based in Grünwald. In a further request from the Greens, the Ministry of Justice confirmed the ongoing criminal investigation against Andrea Tandler. So far, she has not commented on BR’s request. From Emix Trading it says: “Please understand that, for reasons of competition, we generally do not comment publicly on internal business transactions.”

Business tax oasis Grünwald

Grünwald is not only a residential suburb of Munich, but is also considered a small tax haven: According to the Munich and Upper Bavaria Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the local trade tax rate is one of the cheapest rates in Germany. In Munich the rate is more than twice as high.

It is also noticeable that Andrea Tandler only founded Little Penguin GmbH in Grünwald on April 6, 2020 with a business partner, and was entered in the commercial register in mid-April 2020. The Bavarian Ministry of Health had already ordered FFP2 masks from Emix Trading on March 3, 2020. According to BR research, the last delivery of Emix masks took place at the end of March 2020. The commission therefore apparently went to a company that did not yet exist at the time of the mask business.

With the help of Andrea Tandler, Emix Trading had concluded several deals with the Federal Ministry of Health and some federal states. According to media reports, Andrea Tandler’s fees and commissions ranged between five and 7.5 percent, totaling tens of millions.

“Not everything cleared up yet”

The fact that the Munich I public prosecutor’s office is investigating shows Florian Siekmann, Member of the Green Party, that not all mask deals have been cleared up. The vice chairman of the mask inquiry committee in the Bavarian state parliament writes down BRInquiry: “The investigations show that maximum profit was the goal of this deal. Andrea Tandler probably wanted to get as much out of the CSU connection as possible while avoiding the higher Munich trade tax rate leaves me stunned. “

Identical businesses in North Rhine-Westphalia?

Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia had jointly ordered from Emix Trading. The Internet platform FragDenStaat has parts of the communication between the health ministries of both countries, Emix and Andrea Tandler released. In contrast to Bavaria, in NRW it is possible to request such documents due to the Freedom of Information Act.

This includes around 15 emails from Andrea Tandler to the ministry in Düsseldorf. Here, too, she always used the email address of her Munich PR company.

Business with obstacles

North Rhine-Westphalia had to transfer half of the purchase price with the sale, almost five million euros went to Emix Trading. With 9.90 euros, NRW paid one euro more per mask than Bavaria. Both federal states had each ordered one million FFP2 masks from the US company 3M. Only 527,200 pieces were delivered to North Rhine-Westphalia, however, according to BR information, they were masks from four different Chinese companies. And: They weren’t FFP2 masks, but mainly KN95 masks. In April 2020, the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Health no longer wanted to wait for the remaining masks and canceled the contract.

According to a non-public report by the Ministry of Health, Emix Trading delivered a million masks to Bavaria. Cost point 8.9 million euros. It is not yet publicly known which manufacturer these masks come from. In addition, according to the report, the Free State received 65,000 protective gowns for 1.2 million euros via Emix Trading. Originally, the Ministry of Health had ordered far more, but canceled again because delivery was not made in a timely manner.

Committee of Inquiry starts work in January

On January 14, 2022, the Mask Investigative Committee will hold its first working session in the Bavarian State Parliament. Last week he was constituted, appointed a first expert for public procurement law and commissioned the ministries involved to prepare lists of relevant files. The former Bavarian Justice Minister Winfried Bausback (CSU) is chairman.