Money laundering investigations: Scholz defends the work of the FIU

Contrary to expectations, Chancellor candidate Scholz appeared in person before the finance committee. He defended the work of the money laundering special unit FIU. The authority has achieved more in the past three years than in the past 30 years.

Finance Minister Olaf Scholz has rejected allegations against the anti-money laundering unit FIU in the Bundestag Finance Committee. Scholz said after the meeting that the authority had done more in the past three years than in the past 30 years. Scholz emphasized again that the FIU had been increased in terms of personnel and had a modern IT structure. The number of reports will continue to increase. The criteria which money laundering reports are passed on to the authorities would be further improved.

In his statement in the committee, according to information from participants, Scholz initially addressed the role of the FIU in general and the reforms that had taken place there in recent years. He alleged that his ministry paid close attention to the FIU during his tenure. However, no minister could “solve all problems with the snap of a finger,” it said. The minister therefore declined to provide information on the investigation because of the ongoing proceedings.

Criticism from the FDP, AFD and Union

Speakers from the FDP and AfD, but also from the CDU and CSU, accused Scholz of failing to combat money laundering before the start of the meeting. FDP chairman Markus Herbrand spoke of “blatant grievances”, his party colleague Florian Toncar of a “lawless area in the fight against organized crime”.

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.

Left-wing politician Stefan Liebich expressed himself reluctantly to the allegations against Scholz. There are “open questions”, but “no reason for silly election spectacle,” he wrote on Twitter before the meeting. Green chairwoman Lisa Paus welcomed the personal appearance of the minister, but also called for comprehensive answers to the questions.

SPD accuses Union of election campaign maneuvers

Speakers from the FDP, AfD and Union had also criticized before the meeting that Scholz only wanted to participate via video and spoke of a lack of respect for parliament. While they were still making their statements, however, the minister entered the room through another entrance.

For the SPD, committee member Jens Zimmermann also rejected the allegations. He also said that it should also be discussed what situation Scholz found when he took office in 2017 in the fight against money laundering. Here his predecessor Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) left him “a pile of broken glass”.

The Union accused Zimmermann of wanting to “do a bogeyman” in the election campaign. With a view to Schäuble, he recalled the saying: “If someone points with one finger at the other, then four fingers often point back at you.”

As part of its FIU investigations, the Osnabrück public prosecutor had the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice searched. However, the investigations are not directed against the federal ministries. Rather, employees of the FIU are accused of failing to pass on information about money laundering to investigative authorities. The FIU is assigned to customs and thus to the division of the Federal Ministry of Finance.