exprosecutor . “Rabbit and hedgehog game”

a German interview
Chief investigator in the cum-ex scandal: Anne Brorhilker leaves judicial service (brd)
22 April, an article in the German magazine ‘Stern’:
The chief investigator Anne Brorhilker, who is involved in the-Ex tax scandal, has resigned. Brorhilker submitted her dismissal from the judicial service at the end of May on Monday, according to a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office in Cologne. The Attorney General's Office regrets this step. The senior public prosecutor had "rendered outstanding services to the judiciary of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia". Previously, the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) had reported on Brorhilker's dismissal.
The senior public prosecutor has so far led the investigations into the billion-dollar tax scandal involving-ex transactions, with which banks and investors cheated the state out of billions for years. The tax authorities were tricked, so that capital gains taxes were refunded several times. The practice has been common practice at many banks in Germany and abroad since the early 2000s. In 2021, the Federal Court of Justice confirmed the punishability of such transactions.

According to WDR, more than 1700 suspects are currently being investigated. -Ex transactions are said to have cost taxpayers an estimated twelve billion euros. There are already the first verdicts, including against the lawyer Hanno Berger, a key figure in the-ex transactions. Berger was sentenced to eight years in prison by the Bonn Regional Court in December 2022 for three counts of tax evasion. The Regional Court found that he had been a source of ideas, initiator and advisor in-Ex transactions.
In an interview with WDR, Brorhilker criticized politics. "I have always been a public prosecutor with heart and soul, especially in the field of white-collar crime, but I am not at all satisfied with how financial crime is prosecuted in Germany," she told the broadcaster.

Eleven years after the first-ex cases became known, politicians have still not reacted sufficiently. Tax theft is far from stopped, there are-Ex successor models, like in a "hare and hedgehog game". The reason is a lack of controls on what happens at banks and on the stock markets. To solve the problem, Brorhilker advocates more staff in law enforcement and for a central nationwide authority to combat financial crime, which would also prosecute tax offenses.

The Cologne Public Prosecutor's Office did not comment on the reasons for the departure of the chief investigator.

Brorhilker is moving to the citizens' movement Finanzwende as managing director. As the association announced on Monday, she will take over the management of the financial crime department in a few weeks "after a transitional period" and at the same time become part of the management. Association board member Gerhard Schick spoke of a "declaration of war on financial criminals and their supporters". "This must be a wake-up call to finally make the prosecution of financial crime a political priority in Germany," he said.

According to Brorhilker, she does not see the danger that the investigation could come to a standstill with her departure. More than 30 public prosecutors are involved in the investigation, she told WDR. "That's why we're well positioned and I think my colleagues are doing an excellent job." AFP
https://www.stern.de/wirtschaft/themen/anne-brorhilker-9188192.html
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05 May, an article in the German magazine ‘Stern’:
The-Ex senior public prosecutor Brorhilker, who was divorced in the dispute, has a successor: Tim Engel is now to investigate the tax fraud.
Senior public prosecutor Tim Engel will become the new chief investigator for-ex tax fraud with share transactions in Cologne. This was announced by North Rhine-Westphalian Justice Minister Benjamin Limbach (Greens) on Friday. Engel succeeds Anne Brorhilker. Like his predecessor, the new chief investigator is also head of the main department for white-collar crime at the Cologne public prosecutor's office.

"I find it deeply regrettable that Ms. Brorhilker is leaving us," said Justice Minister Limbach in the legal committee of the state parliament. This is undoubtedly a great loss for the judiciary and also regrettable for the-Ex investigations.The-Ex fraud with illegal share deals, which had its heyday from 2006 to 2011, is estimated to have cheated the German state out of a double-digit billion amount. In the process, securities with ("") and without ("ex") dividend entitlements were shifted back and forth between financial players in a short time. In the end, the tax authorities unknowingly refunded capital gains taxes to banks, stock traders and consultants that had not been paid at all.

Opposition criticizes lack of support for Brorhilker's investigations
The opposition accused Limbach of not having sufficiently supported Brorhilker. The Minister of Justice rejected this: With four additional department positions for public prosecutors, their wish for more staff had been fully met. The positions were filled even faster than promised.

Successor Engel has already dealt intensively with the issue of-Ex in the NRW Ministry of Justice, where he was responsible for the area of white-collar crime between January 2020 and February 2023.

Brorhilker criticizes lack of clarification of-Ex tax fraud
Brorhilker had criticized the political reappraisal of the billion-dollar tax scandal. She is not satisfied with the way financial crime is prosecuted in Germany. This type of tax theft is far from stopped, there are already-ex successor models.

The public prosecutor had spoken out in favor of a central nationwide authority to combat financial crime. She herself wants to work for the fight against financial crime in the future as managing director of the citizens' movement Finanzwende.

Under Brorhilker's leadership, 1700 defendants were investigated in Cologne in around 120-ex investigations. The public prosecutor's office is thus in charge nationwide in dealing with the scandal, which is considered the largest tax fraud in the history of the Federal Republic. urb DPA