Status: 01/25/2023 3:49 p.m
Almost two years after the mask affair, two of the main suspects are now in custody: Andrea Tandler and her business partner. The background to this was “tax law allegations,” said the Munich public prosecutor.
Two key figures in the mask affair in Bavaria are in custody on tax charges: Andrea Tandler, the daughter of former CSU General Secretary Gerold Tandler, and her business partner.
The two accused T. and N. were arrested on Tuesday “due to arrest warrants requested by the Munich I public prosecutor’s office at the Munich district court and issued there,” said a spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office in response to a request from the dpa news agency. Previously, several other media had reported about it.
Tax allegations
The background is therefore “tax law allegations that are the subject of a long-standing investigation”. The law firm Tandlers initially did not comment.
Tandler and her business partner were brought before the magistrate on Tuesday afternoon, and both arrest warrants were executed. The accused are currently in custody, the spokeswoman said. “Due to tax secrecy, we cannot provide any further information on the underlying facts,” she continued, speaking only of allegations under tax law.
8.90 euros per mask
At the beginning of the corona pandemic, Tandler is said to have received millions in commissions for brokering mask shops. Last year it became known that they were being investigated because of an initial suspicion of trade tax fraud. A spokesman for Tandler said immediately after the allegations became known that the lawyers expected that “all other allegations will also prove to be unfounded” after the first proceedings had been discontinued.
Tandler and her partner rejected “all allegations raised in public”. At the beginning of the pandemic, Tandler brokered a large mask business to the Free State, among other things. These were unusually expensive protective masks at a price of 8.90 euros per mask. The offer came from a Swiss company and had been brought to the Bavarian Ministry of Health by Tandler. A purchase was made – even if in the end masks other than those announced were delivered.
Tandler had to appear as a witness before the mask investigation committee of the Bavarian state parliament. At the time, however, she refused to testify through her lawyer.