€36B tax fraud scandal returns to haunt Germany’s Scholz
Politico
»German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is set to face questions over his alleged involvement in the country’s biggest tax fraud scandal, which could become another challenge to his credibility during an election campaign in which he’s already struggling.
The center-left leader will face Hamburg’s parliamentary investigation committee for a third time on Friday over his connection to the broader “cum-ex” and “cum-cum” affairs, in which the German state is estimated to have been defrauded by around €36 billion as some banks, companies, or individuals claimed erroneous tax reimbursements from authorities. [...]
With less than three months to go until Germany’s February snap election, the chancellor’s opponents are not expected to let the matter go. “Many state banks were affected by the financial crisis, including HSH Nordbank,” said Fabio De Masi, a European lawmaker for the left-wing Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht alliance who closely followed the tax evasion scandal. “In my view, the cum-ex transactions were a way of recapitalizing very cheaply behind the public’s back, without bailout packages.”«