A banking scandal linked to German Chancellor Olaf Schulz’s past as mayor of Hamburg threatens to land him in trouble, according to a number of German newspaper headlines Wednesday, including “Der Spiegel”.
At the center of the controversy, €214,000 in cash was found in a safe belonging to Johannes Kars, a former deputy of the Social Democratic Party (SPD, its acronym in German) who ran a local organization in Hamburg in 2016, when Schulz was mayor. .
According to German media, the money could be linked to the Warburg Bank scandal, which a committee of the local parliament has been investigating for more than two years.
In 2016, after a series of meetings between the directors of the institution and the Social Democratic Party, the financial authorities of the coastal city abandoned the return of 47 million euros obtained by this bank through irregular transactions.
Schultz has already denied, as mayor, that he had any influence on the decision of the financial authorities.
Der Spiegel writes that there is no evidence that the money in the vault is linked to the Warburg Bank case.
However, he added, the financial institution gave at least €45,000 to the SPD in Hamburg, most of it to the organization Kehres leads.
According to the notes of the bank’s owner, Christian Olearius, it was Kahrz who brokered his meetings in 2016 and 2017 with the then mayor and current chancellor.
Kahres has not yet commented on the source of the money and a government spokesman said this week that Schultz was not aware of its existence.
Other media reported this week that in March the Cologne (West) Prosecutor’s Office, which is helping to clarify the case, ordered a check of Schulz’s email account since he took office.
A second testimony for Schulz is due on August 19 before a parliamentary committee in Hamburg.
