As part of the cum-ex affair about the Hamburg Warburg Bank, the judiciary is investigating former SPD politician Johannes Kahrs and discovers a safe deposit box where Kahrs parked 200,000 euros. It’s not illegal, but it’s dubious. The opposition is now demanding answers – including from the chancellor.
The public prosecutor’s office in Cologne is still keeping a low profile. But what the “Bild” newspaper seems to have unearthed could grow into a veritable political scandal: according to a report by the newspaper, more than 200,000 euros are said to have been in a safe deposit box belonging to the former SPD politician Johannes Kahrs. Investigators made the find as part of a search related to illegal cum-ex deals. Kahrs is also said to be involved.
In the course of the raid, which was carried out in September last year, investigators also searched Kahrs’ private apartment – and apparently found what they were looking for: Several papers are said to have been confiscated. The public prosecutor’s office finally gained access to at least one of Kahrs’ accounts with the Hamburger Sparkasse and the locker in question. The NDR also reports that it contained 214,800 euros and 2,400 US dollars.
Since then, the investigation has been investigating where all the money came from. Apparently there are indications that it is connected to the Cum-Ex affair about the Hamburger Warburg Bank. Essentially, the case is about the question of why the financial authorities of the Hanseatic city initially refrained from reclaiming millions in taxes from illegal cum-ex transactions from the bank of entrepreneur Christian Olearius in 2016.
Olearius is said to have contacted Kahrs and his party friend Alfons Pawelzcyk after a raid on his bank and asked for support. This was also promised to him. The Warburg scandal is also sensitive because Chancellor Olaf Scholz was Hamburg’s first mayor at the time – and Kahrs was not only his party friend, but also a confidant. At least one meeting between Scholz and Olearius is documented.
The question of whether political influence was used to prevent the Hamburg tax authorities from demanding the return of 47 million euros in tax money evaded from the Warburg Bank is now not only the concern of a parliamentary committee of inquiry in Hamburg, but has also led to specific investigations against Kahrs, among others. The initial suspicion of favoring tax evasion is examined against him.
The opposition is increasingly demanding a quick and complete clarification of the matter. “The inconsistencies are increasing,” Hamburg’s CDU boss Christoph Ploß told the “Spiegel”. It is neither clear where the Kahrs got the money from nor to what extent the social democratic network in Hamburg benefited from these events. Scholz and First Mayor Peter Tschentscher, who was still Senator for Finance at the time, should “no longer go underground”.
The former member of the Bundestag Fabio de Masi goes even further in the “Bild” newspaper. The money in the locker is explosive for Scholz and has the “potential to overthrow the chancellor”. Anyone who keeps more than 200,000 euros in a safe deposit box apparently wants to ensure that the money does not leave any electronic traces. Kahrs has not yet commented publicly on the reporting.
The 58-year-old, who was born in Bremen, resigned from all political offices in 2020 after losing out in the race against Eva Högl for the office of military commissioner. The long-standing member of the Bundestag and colonel in the reserve of the Bundeswehr had his constituency in Hamburg-Mitte for more than 20 years. He was budget spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag and one of the spokesmen for the influential Seeheimer Kreis.
