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The summer fairy tale process has definitely turned into a nightmare for the federal prosecutor. After the trial at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona was postponed in mid-March due to the Corona crisis, the process is now finally history. The judges decided yesterday to extend the suspension of the process until April 27, according to the decision published today. On this day the case becomes a prescription.
What happened to the 10 million francs?
Four and a half years after the investigation began, one thing is certain: a verdict will never be reached in one of the most important cases of the federal prosecutor. The summer fairy tale case was the first of about two dozen ongoing FIFA proceedings that the federal prosecution brought to trial against chief investigator Michael Lauber (54). This is the dubious repayment of a loan that soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer (74), Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, took over in 2002. The World Cup went down in German sports history as a ” summer fairy tale. “
The CHF 10 million loan came from former Adidas owner Robert Louis-Dreyfus († 63). The latter transferred the money to a conglomerate of companies in Qatar. His boss: Mohammed bin Hammam (79), then FIFA Vice President. It is still unclear exactly why the Beckenbauer Katari made the millions. There are several theories as to who used what to buy for what. The real purpose remains hidden to this day.
The accusation was: fraud
On the other hand, what the investigators know, and what was the subject of the accusation: Louis-Dreyfus wanted Beckenbauer’s money in 2005. The German Football Association (DFB) intervened and paid the Franco-Swiss businessman through a of his accounts, with a diversion through FIFA, the 10 million francs.
The federal prosecutor accuses the parties of fraud. She accused former DFB President Theo Zwanziger (74), Horst Rudolf Schmidt (78) and Wolfgang Niersbach (69), both members of the 2006 World Cup, and former FIFA Secretary General Urs Linsi ( 70), the only Swiss defendant. The “emperor” did not have to answer for himself at court. The case against Beckenbauer was dropped due to his health.
For this reason, Beckenbauer had long made it clear that he no longer had to fear punishment. The other four defendants now have the same certainty. The case is excluded. Not only in Germany, but also in Switzerland.
The Crown crisis saved the authority from even greater shame
For Lauber and his researchers, the statute of limitations is both bankruptcy and luck. Because you may have avoided even greater embarrassment. The reason for this is the disciplinary procedure against the federal chief investigator. The federal prosecutor’s supervisory authority accuses Lauber of serious breaches of official duties in connection with several secret meetings with FIFA chief Gianni Infantino (50). and cut your salary for it. The last word has yet to be said, because Lauber will go to trial against his supervisors.
However, the matter has already had consequences for the summer fairy tale process: the defendant’s attorneys filed multiple license applications and requests for rejection. Because the results of the disciplinary investigation against Lauber raise many questions. The third unregistered meeting with Infantino in 2017, at the Hotel Schweizerhof in Bern, is particularly explosive. And it is precisely this meeting at the noble hotel, which also houses the Qatari embassy, that everyone involved no longer wants to remember.
Who was the ominous fifth man?
As the supervisory authority wrote in its report, on June 16, 2017, another person was present in Meeting Room III on the first floor of the Schweizerhof, in addition to Lauber, Infantino, Valais prosecutor Rinaldo Arnold and the chief of communications from the federal prosecutor, whose name appeared in the report. It is blackened. As various media have reported in recent days, it could be Cédric Remund (38). Remund performs several FIFA procedures, including the one related to the summer fairy tale. This is evident from the accusation that is available to BLICK.
The defendants’ attorneys had now requested that the regulator send the unconfirmed version of the report to the judges. If the suspicion had been substantiated, other procedures related to the FIFA complex involving Remunds could fail. In a decision in mid-March, the Federal Criminal Court already indicated that the circumstances that had become known through the disciplinary procedures “could give rise to extensive prohibitions on the use of evidence.” With the completion of the process, the question of who the fifth man really was will remain open for the time being.
There are threats of satisfaction.
Either way, the summer fairy tale case does great damage to the reputation of the federal prosecutor’s office – indeed, the entire Swiss judiciary. In addition, there are also financial consequences: in addition to the costs of the many years of investigations that were now for Katz, the defendant could face high compensation claims. According to the German sports agency SID, lawyers for the four former soccer officials are examining claims for compensation for pain and suffering “very closely.”
