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“I want to see Söder”: the Wirecard committee’s explosive witness list
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The accounting scandal will be addressed in the investigation committee
In the Wirecard balance sheet scandal, the Greens announced that they would support the FDP and the left. Now there are enough votes in the Bundestag to set up a parliamentary commission of inquiry.
The Wirecard debacle is being discussed in a parliamentary inquiry committee. The guest list could include Olaf Scholz, Peter Altmaier, and Markus Söder. The presidency could fall into the hands of the AfD of all the people.
reThe Wirecard accounting scandal, valued in the billions, is being dealt with in a parliamentary commission of inquiry. After AfD, FDP and Linker, the Greens now also came out in favor. This means that there are enough votes in the Bundestag to create such a body, which should reach results in the summer of next year, before the next Bundestag elections.
“Despite special meetings, consultations and many opportunities, the federal government has failed to clarify the Wirecard scandal comprehensively and deeply for months,” criticized green finance politician Danyal Bayaz after the last special finance committee meeting on The topic, which he was about had dragged on for two days.
“There are still many questions and inconsistencies.” This is not a political court, but a total clarification. The opposition sees as responsible the Ministry of Finance headed by the candidate for chancellor of the SPD Olaf Scholz, to whom the financial supervision BaFin is subordinate.
The FDP, the Greens and the Left join the necessary quorum of 25 percent of the votes in the Bundestag to run for an inquiry committee, not dependent on the votes of the AfD, which had also voted for an inquiry committee. However, this could receive the presidency, since it is the turn of the next commission of inquiry according to the usual procedure in the Bundestag. The AfD would have the right to propose.
Air bookings of 1.9 billion euros
According to FDP financial politician Florian Toncar, the research contract should be formulated by Tuesday next week so that the research committee can begin its work in September. The first witnesses should be questioned in November.
In addition to Scholz and the Minister of Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier (CDU), a prominent CSU politician could also be on the witness list. “I also want to see Mr. Söder here,” said Fabio De Masi, a left-wing financial politician. According to their assessment, a suspicious transaction report from the customs anti-money laundering unit to Wirecard was sent to the responsible prosecutor’s office in Munich.
In early 2019, customs’ so-called Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) made two “very valuable” reports to the State Criminal Police Office in Bavaria, SPD deputy Jens Zimmermann said on the sidelines of the special meeting of the finance. FDP deputy Toncar also criticized the fact that the process had stopped too quickly. “If the investigation had been carried out more seriously, it is possible that I would have had doubts about the people involved in Wirecard,” and the reports of market manipulation would have appeared in a different light then.
In June, the now insolvent payment service provider admitted air bookings worth 1.9 billion euros. The Munich prosecution assumes that Wirecard has been showing false earnings since 2015 and is investigating commercial gang fraud. The damage to lending banks and investors could amount to 3.2 billion euros.
