Status: 12/15/2022 1:36 p.m
The head of the anti-money laundering unit FIU announces his post. The Treasury accepts his request to resign “for personal reasons”. The media had previously reported that thousands of suspected cases had accumulated.
The head of the anti-money laundering unit FIU, Christof Schulte, is resigning from his post. According to a letter from the Federal Ministry of Finance to the Finance Committee of the Bundestag, Schulte asked for his release from his position “for personal reasons”. The Ministry will comply with this request.
According to media reports, thousands of suspected cases have accumulated at the FIU. Schulte will take on a new role in Directorate V (General Customs Law) within the General Customs Directorate with effect from December 15, the letter says.
Peters takes over temporarily
On an interim basis, his permanent deputy, Department Director Tilman Peters, will take over management tasks at the Central Office for Financial Transaction Investigations (FIU). The replacement of the line will be pursued with “high priority”.
Backlogs for processing hidden
The chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Finance Committee, Matthias Hauer, told the dpa news agency that Schulte’s resignation had become apparent in recent weeks. “The FIU has been piling up more and more unprocessed suspected money laundering reports for months, and at the same time both the FIU and Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner are secretive about it. Only recently, more than 100,000 suspicious transaction reports that have not yet been processed came to light.”
Hauer criticized that the state of the massive processing backlog had been kept secret from the Bundestag and the public for a long time.
“For personal reasons” – FIU boss Schulte throws down
Arne Meyer-Fünffinger, ARD Berlin, December 15, 2022 1:46 p.m