Status: 13.12.2022 2:38 p.m
The Bonn district court has sentenced the key figure in the cum-ex stock deals, Berger, to eight years in prison. The 72-year-old is guilty of tax evasion, the judges said.
The Bonn regional court has sentenced the architect of the cum-ex share deals, Hanno Berger, to eight years in prison. The court ruled that the 72-year-old was guilty of three counts of tax evasion. The verdict is not yet legally binding.
The possible maximum was 15 years, the prosecution had called for nine years in prison. The defense had admitted misconduct on the part of their client, but the extent of this was significantly less than that presented by the public prosecutor. The crimes spanned the period from 2007 to 2011.
“Hanno Berger is sent to prison for eight years”, Rupert Wiederwald, WDR, on the verdict against the key figure in the Cum-Ex trial
tagesschau24 2 p.m., 13.12.2022
Berger is a well-known face of the Cum-Ex scandal
Berger is the best-known protagonist of the business model, which the Federal Court of Justice classified as a criminal offense in 2021. He advised banks, funds and investors on the construction of transactions and recruited wealthy clients through his network. He made millions for it. He used to be a civil servant in the Hessian tax administration, later he changed sides and provided the financial actors with in-depth knowledge of tax law.
At the end of 2012, tax expert Berger fled to Switzerland, where he was able to evade German justice for years. It was only delivered to Germany in February 2022. Parallel to the Bonn proceedings, another criminal case is pending against him before the Wiesbaden district court, where he is accused of further cum-ex offenses.
File number 62 KLs 2/20