North Rhine-Westphalia’s Justice Minister Benjamin Limbach has given up his controversial plan to significantly restructure a public prosecutor’s office that is important nationwide for dealing with the cum-ex tax scandal. This organizational decision “will not be pursued further,” said the Green politician on Thursday before the legal committee of the state parliament in Düsseldorf.
Limbach originally wanted to split up the Cum-Ex main department of the Cologne public prosecutor’s office. This was understood as a disempowerment of the previous boss, the renowned cum-ex prosecutor Anne Brorhilker. After harsh criticism, Limbach announced at the weekend that he would suspend the restructuring and seek advice. Now the plan is off the table.
Limbach’s plans had drawn criticism. His predecessor, CDU politician Peter Biesenbach, warned of the consequences for dealing with the cum-ex scandal due to unnecessary parallel structures.
On Wednesday there was a meeting at the Ministry of Justice with representatives of the Cologne public prosecutor’s office and other lawyers. According to Limbach, it was agreed not to pursue the original organizational decision any further and to create four additional positions in the Cum-Ex main department. This would increase the number of prosecutor positions from 36 to 40.
The Cologne public prosecutor’s office plays a central role in the prosecution of cum-ex tax fraudsters. She has around 120 cum-ex investigations pending against 1,700 suspects. Nine charges were filed. The Cum-Ex fraud, which had its peak period from 2006 to 2011, is estimated to have defrauded the German state of a double-digit billion sum.