Money laundering investigations: Finance committee questions Scholz | tagesschau.de

The Finance Committee of the Bundestag has started deliberations on investigations against the special money laundering unit FIU. Finance Minister Scholz, who – contrary to expectations – appeared in person about this, was also asked.

Contrary to what was expected, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) appeared personally in the finance committee on money laundering investigations in connection with a customs authority. Less than a week before the federal election, the SPD candidate for Chancellor answered questions from the MPs in Berlin – without the committee having to summon him. Scholz canceled two election campaign dates planned for today in the southwest.

Investigation against anti-money laundering unit

The FDP, the Greens and the Left had requested the special session of the Bundestag committee after the Osnabrück public prosecutor’s office had carried out a search of the finance and justice ministries. The background to the action are investigations against employees of the FIU (Financial Intelligence Unit), a special anti-money laundering unit of the customs in Cologne, which is assigned to the Ministry of Finance. FIU employees are said to have not passed on information about terrorist financing to the judiciary and the police in good time. In this context, the investigators wanted to view documents from both ministries, including e-mails between the FIU and the Ministry of Finance and correspondence between the two ministries.

According to the Ministry of Justice, the Osnabrück public prosecutor’s office had been offered the sought-after documents long before the search. The public prosecutor, however, presented the telephone call in question in such a way that the ministry initially refused to hand over the documents and referred to “the great official channel”. So it was decided to request searches in both houses. It is unanimously said that the investigators were able to see the documents in question without any problems.

Attacks by the Union and FDP against Scholz

The FDP, Greens, Left, AfD and Union had asked Scholz to appear before the committee in person and not – like some committee members themselves – to connect digitally. Before the start of the meeting, Scholz was accused of failing to combat money laundering. FDP chairman Markus Herbrand spoke of “blatant grievances”. His party colleague Florian Toncar made the finance minister responsible for a “lawless area in the fight against organized crime”. The most important question is: “Have guidelines from Berlin led to huge loopholes in the fight against money laundering?” It must be clarified whether the FIU employees only implemented instructions from Berlin or decided themselves, said Toncar. AfD spokesman announced that they also wanted to ask Scholz about the events surrounding the Wirecard scandal, about which the minister should also provide information.

The coalition partner CDU / CSU also distanced themselves from the SPD chancellor candidate Scholz a few days before the federal election. The CSU politician Hans Michelbach spoke of a “failure on a broad front” before the meeting. He also announced questions to the finance minister about the cum-ex scandal and emphasized that the allegations against the FIU were “the third financial scandal in the area of ​​responsibility of Olaf Scholz”.

Scholz emphasizes improvements in the fight against money laundering

Scholz had emphasized in the Triell broadcast by ProSieben, Sat.1 and Kabeleins that under him as finance minister a lot had already been improved in the fight against money laundering. For example, 100 employees were once employed at the FIU. “Now there are 500 employed, and soon it will be 700,” said Scholz. He told the newspapers “Straubinger Tagblatt / Landshuter Zeitung” and the “Abendzeitung”: “The FIU should no longer just forward the suspicious transaction reports on money laundering, of which there are now almost 150,000 per year, but rather organize and organize them as in other countries evaluate.” To this end, the FIU had, among other things, massively increased its staff, and more access rights to the databases of other authorities had been created.

“We have implemented European rules, and there is now an external consideration of all operational processes in order to set up the authority optimally. What can be done in such a short time has been done,” said Scholz. “German authorities work well with other German authorities, including the public prosecutor’s office in Osnabrück, and they give out cases that they are asked about.”