Suspended sentences for cum-ex bankers

by time news

Es is the first criminal judgment of a Hessian court in the multi-billion cum-ex scandal: On Tuesday, the 6th criminal chamber of the Wiesbaden district court sentenced the accused Andreas B. to a suspended prison sentence of two years for three counts of tax evasion. His former work colleague Michael G. is facing a one-year and two-month prison sentence for aiding and abetting tax evasion, which has also been suspended. In addition, the two bankers have to pay 60,000 euros and 20,000 euros respectively to the state treasury as a condition of probation (Az. 6 KLs – 1111 Js 27125/12).

After a year and a half of litigation, the court came to the conclusion that between 2006 and 2008, when they were employees of Hypovereinsbank (HVB), B. and G. were involved in agreements on stock group transactions around the dividend date. At that time, London stock exchange traders of HVB were trading shares in Dax companies worth 15 billion euros. In Munich, the customer advisor B. and the securities dealer G. ensured that the family office of the late billionaire Rafael Roth received almost 113 million euros in reimbursements for capital gains taxes that had never been paid.

The mammoth trial, which lasted more than 40 days, was characterized by difficulties such as the corona infections of many of those involved and the serious illness of the accused B., said Kathleen Mittelsdorf, presiding judge of the criminal chamber. “Many questions remained unanswered,” she emphasized in the verbal justification. The chairman attributed this to the fact that many witnesses were now themselves accused. “For us, this is extremely unsatisfactory, but unavoidable,” Mittelsdorf explained, explaining the fact that many witnesses hardly contributed to the clarification or refused to testify in the lightweight construction hall on the “Gibber Kerb” fairground in the Biebrich district of Wiesbaden. There, far away from the central district court, the criminal court negotiates the complex cum-ex processes.

Defense attorneys wanted acquittals

With the suspended sentences, the court fell well short of the opinion of the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office. The prosecutors had demanded prison sentences of four years and four months and three years and two months, respectively. The defendants had taken the position in the criminal proceedings that tax issues relating to cum-ex transactions were not part of their area of ​​responsibility. The criminal defense lawyers for the two bankers had pleaded for acquittal.

The verdict is not final, the way for an appeal to the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) is open to both defendants. With the decision in Wiesbaden, one of the longest investigation complexes in terms of cum-ex ends for the time being. Ten years ago, the public prosecutor’s office had Hanno Berger’s offices in Frankfurt’s Taunusanlage searched. The suspect then fled to Switzerland.

It was only in October 2017 that the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office presented its indictment against the then six accused, including B. and G. The interim proceedings dragged on due to the translation of the indictment into English, difficulties with service and legal disputes. Meanwhile, the ranks of the accused were thinning: the Bonn Regional Court opened its own proceedings against two British stock exchange traders in 2019. It ended in 2021 with the Supreme Court confirming that cum-ex stock deals were illegal.

Paul Mora, another former HVB banker, escaped criminal proceedings in Wiesbaden. To this day, the New Zealander is wanted worldwide. Hanno Berger also did not want to take part in the process. At the start in March 2021, Berger did not appear in the lightweight construction hall – his lawyer justified this with the incorrect summons of his client. After his extradition in February 2022, Berger has been on trial at the Bonn Regional Court since April, and he has had to answer in Wiesbaden since the beginning of June. If the two criminal courts convict Berger, he could face up to 15 years in prison.

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