The prosecutor’s office is considering waiving Christian Lindner’s immunity
The attorney general is considering waiving Lindner’s immunity
In preparing a greeting for a bank, Finance Minister Lindner allegedly hid that he had taken out a loan from the institution for the purchase of a private house. Since he was then granted another loan, he is now threatened with criminal prosecution for accepting an advantage.
FDP leader Christian Lindner wrote a greeting for a bank from which he also received a loan for his house. The attorney general’s office is now examining whether this constitutes an advantage and whether the finance minister’s immunity for investigations will be waived.
bFederal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) apparently hid the fact that he took out a loan from the institution for the purchase of his private house when he prepared a ministerial greeting for a private client bank in Karlsruhe in May 2022 Because after the farewell he had another loan from the same bank, he is now threatened with criminal prosecution for accepting an advantage.
The corruption department of the Berlin prosecutor’s office is currently examining the waiver of Lindner’s immunity as a member of parliament in order to be able to formally investigate, reports the Berliner “Daily mirror“. A spokesman stressed that this is “normal in such cases and without making a statement as to whether there is an initial suspicion”. A decision is expected soon.
You don’t need a specific official act to accept a benefit
Lindner’s actions could be punishable if the second loan is related to the official farewell. It’s a matter of circumstances. To accept an advantage, however, no reference to a specific official document is required. It should be avoided that the mere appearance of venality is created by officials. There could therefore also be threats of investigations into BBBank’s managers for the granting of benefits.
When asked, Lindner denied there was a connection between his real estate financing and the salute. Furthermore, from his point of view, there was no obligation to disclose the private business relationship with BBBank to the ministry.
The reason for the investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office was the media reports about the “spiegelLast October about the purchase of a private house by Lindner. A good month after the congratulations, the politician encumbered his property in the elegant Nikolassee district of Berlin with 450,000 euros in favor of the Karlsruher Genossenschaftsbank, according to the magazine.
