The trial of Alfons Schuhbeck in Munich takes a surprising turn. The celebrity chef admits that he deliberately manipulated sales in one of his restaurants and thus evaded taxes. He had “failed entrepreneurially,” he admits. He now faces a prison sentence.
Star chef Alfons Schuhbeck, accused of tax evasion in the millions, has made a partial confession before the Munich I Regional Court. He admitted to manipulating sales at one of his restaurants and taking money from the tills. “I did some things wrong,” admitted the 73-year-old.
Schuhbeck explained that he was a passionate cook. Nevertheless, he had to admit: “I fooled myself, my friends and acquaintances and also my defense lawyers until the end because I didn’t want to admit that I had failed entrepreneurially.”
Schuhbeck, who is known not least from television programs and many cookbooks, continued: “If I could undo something, I would do it immediately – but I have to admit to myself that I’m not a good businessman.” After the bankruptcy of his company last year and the present indictment, “I am faced with the ruins of my life’s work,” he said resignedly.
The public prosecutor accuses Schuhbeck of manipulating sales in his two Munich restaurants between 2009 and 2016 by millions, thereby evading a good 2.3 million euros in taxes. Schuhbeck has now admitted to having used a computer tool in his Munich restaurant “Orlando” with which he was able to manipulate sales. The statements made by his former IT specialist, who had weighed heavily on his boss at the beginning of the process, are “on the whole correct”.
For his restaurant “Südtiroler Stuben” in Munich, Schuhbeck rejected the allegations. He couldn’t even use the cash register there. He could therefore not explain how money had disappeared there. Nevertheless, he could not rule out that sales were not reported there either. Schuhbeck admitted that, as managing director, he also had to bear the tax consequences for this restaurant.
Regarding the unresolved question of where the money went, Schuhbeck explained that he mainly plugged the financial gaps in his numerous companies. He also gave his four children money for training and studies, but not large amounts. Among other things, he wanted to enable them to study, which he was unable to complete himself. After all, he used the money to buy antiques again and again, but according to the star chef, they are no longer worth much.
“I can’t explain where all the money ended up going,” said Schuhbeck. “I didn’t squander the money on a life of luxury (…),” he asserted. “I don’t play either.” He doesn’t have “other vices” either.
Schuhbeck energetically rejected the court’s allegation from the start of the trial a week ago that he had contacts in the Caribbean and possibly shifted money there. “I haven’t buried any foreign accounts or anything else,” he explained. Although he was supposed to receive money from lenders in the Caribbean as part of a debt restructuring in 2015, the financing did not come about. This was the only way he could explain the connections to the Caribbean expressed by the court.
Schuhbeck may face imprisonment. In the case of tax offenses, the standard is that a prison sentence without probation should be imposed for evasion of one million euros or more. For the possible penalty for the admitted Schuhbeck, it is now decisive what amount of tax evasion can be proven in the end.
Schuhbeck’s defense attorneys said that in the “Südtiroler Stuben” restaurant it was simply not possible to determine why invoices were missing from the sales figures. According to the court, 1,200 sales invoices were missing there in one year alone. The process is expected to continue until shortly before Christmas.
