The Ministry of Finance had not dealt sufficiently with the fallen Dax group, criticized Robert Habeck.
In the balance sheet scandal surrounding the Dax group Wirecard, the German Greens accuse Germany’s Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) of failing to do so. “It is imperative that Mr. Scholz in the Wirecard case explains not only what the supervisory authorities have failed to do, but also why the Ministry of Finance itself did not act earlier,” said Greens boss Robert Habeck.
Habeck told the German press agency that he had the impression that Scholz and the management of the Ministry of Finance had not dealt sufficiently with the case: “The warning lights have been on for a long time.”
Financial supervision Bafin is under the Berlin Ministry of Finance. “There must have been at least inquiries and advice from management and the finance minister as part of the service and technical supervision, everything else would not be responsible,” said Habeck. After all, it is about warding off damage from Germany as a financial center.
1.9 billion euros not found: a “shame”
The financial processing company, founded by the Austrian Markus Braun, applied for bankruptcy after the company had to admit that the cash of 1.9 billion euros listed in the balance sheet, which was supposedly in Asian bank accounts, could not be found. Bafin President Felix Hufeld described the events as “shame”. Scholz announced stricter regulation. Hufeld is scheduled to answer questions this Wednesday in the Finance Committee of the Bundestag. As a first consequence, the federal government wants to terminate the contract with the German Accounting Office (DPR). The DPR, which is organized under private law, controls the balance sheets on behalf of the state.
According to the DPR, the Bafin had given notice in February 2019 that there were inconsistencies in Wirecard’s 2018 half-year results. According to a report by the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung”, the DPR, which is also known as the “balance police”, was said to have been entrusted with the extensive examination in the past 16 months, essentially only one single employee. The division of tasks between Bafin and DPR is also at the center of criticism on the part of the EU Commission against Germany in the Wirecard case.
Left: Supervision plays “blind cow”
Left-wing parliamentary group Fabio De Masi criticized that Bafin and DPR “played blind cows, while Wirecard probably created a criminal pyramid scheme”. The DPR is not a “balance police”, but an “alibi event”. But the Bafin had “slept” despite numerous indications. FDP parliamentary group leader Michael Theurer spoke of a “full-blown scandal”. Anyone who does not properly equip the supervisory authorities is damaging to Germany as a whole.
(DPA)
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