Berlin
The Berlin Public Prosecutor’s Office is examining a case against the Federal Minister of Finance. Why Lindner is being targeted by the authorities.
That could be uncomfortable for Christian Lindner (FDP). The Minister of Finance is threatened with preliminary proceedings by the Berlin Attorney General’s Office – and with it the lifting of immunity.
It’s about the financing of his house in the posh south of Berlin and the question of whether he sent video greetings as a courtesy. If the suspicion is confirmed, it could be a case for the criminal code. Had doubts about clean financing last fall the “mirror” scattered. The Berlin Attorney General’s Office is now taking the magazine’s report as an opportunity to check whether there is an initial suspicion, said spokesman Sebastian Büchner of this editorial team. Also read: Christian Lindner: New Nobel home raises questions
“If that should be the case, the immunity committee in the Bundestag will check whether the immunity will be lifted,” said Büchner. This is a “procedure that is usual in such cases” without there being any initial suspicion. Büchner expects a result in the spring of this year.
Christian Lindner: Buying a house raised questions
That’s what it’s about: According to “Spiegel” have Lindner borrowed the money to buy the house from a bank with which he is said to have had close contact for a long time. It is a two-family house, for which Lindner paid around 1.65 million euros at the beginning of 2021.
The credit for this should be from the BBBank come from – a financial institution at which the minister spoke a word of welcome at an anniversary event. Before his time as minister, Lindner is said to have appeared as a brand ambassador in an advertising film for the bank. Lindner also gave well-paid lectures there several times and appeared at events. By signing the purchase agreement, Lindner is said to have registered a land charge of 2.35 million euros in favor of BBBank, according to “Spiegel”.
A year and a half later, his property was charged with a further 450,000 euros, again in favor of the Karlsruhe cooperative bank. Lindner’s lawyer was quoted in the Tagesspiegel as saying that the loan was granted “at absolutely normal market conditions”. The construction financing already existed before the minister took office.
Linder sent a friendly greeting to the bank
Between the first land charge and the increase, there is now the critical video greeting that Linder sent to the bank on May 18, 2022 – he had long been Minister of Finance – on the occasion of the bank’s 100th anniversary. “I like BBBank from the ground up,” quotes the Tagesspiegel from the speech manuscript. After this speech, he increased his loan by the said 450,000 euros.
The lawyer now told the “Tagesspiegel”: The significantly higher loan volume in relation to the purchase price explained by the fact that “the acquired property is an unrenovated house”. At the time, the bank also told the “Spiegel” that “the applicable legal requirements should be observed” and that the lending guidelines would apply “to all of our private customers equally”.
The case is reminiscent of another federal minister, who made a multi-million dollar real estate purchase with the help of a bank with which he had long been associated: Former Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) made headlines after buying a villa in Berlin-Dahlem for over four million euros. A bank where Spahn was on the board of directors is said to have helped with the financing. with jule/bik
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