Winterkorn: Surprise found in investigation files

Booth: 22:10 | Reading time: 4 minutes

B erlin (dpa) – As if previous allegations against former VW boss, Martin Winterkorn, were not enough, a new suspicion appears in the investigation records: L & # 39; charge investigation because of possible unpaid. The "Bild am Sonntag" quoted in the records, it is, among other things, transfers of an amount of about ten million euros in Swiss accounts over the past two years. The existence and content of the German press agency were confirmed Sunday.

But what does tax investigations have to do with the allegations in the exhaust gas scandal? Nothing says Winterkorn's lawyer Felix Dörr on Sunday dpa. And he goes even further: he examines the lawsuit against the prosecutor Braunschweig. "We plan to lay criminal charges for treason of official secrets," Dörr says.

Klaus Ziehe, spokesman for the prosecutor's office of Braunschweig, says tax investigations against Winterkorn on "Bild am Sonntag": "We will close the investigation express the results before, not before." On weekends , the authority for an opinion was not feasible.

"The prosecutor in Brunswick must explain to me the deep meaning of the proceedings," says Dörr. Information on personal financial circumstances and tax issues had nothing to do with the records of the exhaust gas investigations. Mr Winterkorn's detailed credit card statements, bank statements and bank statements are now on the shelves of 39 lawyers from other polluters. The private badets of Mr. Winterkorn have nothing to do with the procedure, "says the lawyer. With regard to the investigation files, "Bild am Sonntag" describes in detail Winterkorn's individual purchases, bonuses and transfers to family members

The tax procedures started in 2017 with inquiries from Munich Public Prosecutor's Office on suspicion of money laundering. She received a note from the Winterkorn bank. A normal process, with high transfers, financial institutions are even obliged to do so. As investigators suspected a connection with the VW diesel scandal, took over the prosecutor Braunschweig the process and added the five tax records in the Diesel files folder.

Diesel investigation records is now to read what happened to the millions of Winterkorn, In 2016 and 2017, Winterkorn has transferred significant amounts of any of its accounts at Sparda Bank Nuremberg to a account in trust of his tax advisor. From there, money flowed into the deposits of the Vontobel bank in Zurich. Among them was a depot, which was badigned to the wife of Winterkorn. Investigators suspect that part of the transfers was a donation that would have cost more than half a million euros in gift taxes.

In a note, the prosecution noted that Winterkorn had probably transferred badets to Switzerland. "In the files, the note has to be found, it could be an act of" egg nest "Winterkorns act .It is absolute nonsense," says the author. lawyer Dörr. Given the Winterkorn diesel case threatening VW's high damage claims, should be proven breaches of duty.

Among the tax allegations, lawyer Dörr says it was the decision very personal from Winterkorn, where and by whom he left his money.A money transfer from a German bank to Switzerland was legally in order. "According to the badessment of Mr. M's tax consultant. Winterkorn, this process is free from any tax claim, "said the lawyer of the former VW chief.

The bank Vontobel stressed on Sunday, that they comply with all legal provisions. Swiss laws did not allow it to comment on existing or non-existent account details. "In addition, we report the 39; automatic exchange of information on financial accounts between Switzerland and Germany since 2018, with which total transparency has been created. "

Incidentally, the lawyer Dörr knows exactly what detail The villain of his client is hidden in the files according to their own information, not by the authorities, but only by a corresponding request from the "Bild am Sonntag". "We were surprised by the tax investigations themselves. The prosecution gave us no indication. In the current proceedings, the scandal of the exhaust gas is determined against Winterkorn as well as the new CEO of VW Herbert Diess and the chairman of the Supervisory Board Hans Dieter Pötsch due to possible manipulation of the market. , against the winter grain also because of fraud. The prosecutor Braunschweig has 49 suspects in total – 39 on the handling of nitrogen dioxide emissions, 6 on false CO2 and fuel consumption. In 3 cases, it is market manipulation, in one case an employee who should have called to delete data. Winterkorn resigned on September 23, 2015, shortly after US authorities discovered the handling of diesel cars.