by EuroNews
It’s published •update
Kai-Uwe Steck, a key figure in the massive tax fraud scheme that plagued Germany until 2012, was convicted of his role in the scandal.
Steck, who has been working with authorities in recent years, has received a suspended sentence of one and ten months for less than three years and eight months as requested by the prosecutors.
The former lawyer has also been ordered to repay 24 million euros, of which 101 million euros have already been returned.
As a “central figure” in the fraud scheme, Steck contributed to German tax authorities more than 428 million euros, according to the presiding judge in the Bonn District Court case.
The 53-year-old was a tax lawyer who worked with Hanno Berger, the so-called “mastermind” of the scandal that became known in Germany as “cum-ex.”
Like Berger, Steck was accused of designing and carrying out complex stock transactions, allowing several parties to request an illegal tax refund on the payment of dividends.
Despite the important role he played in the scandal between 2007 and 2011, Steck’s cooperation with authorities and his role as a whistleblower in the case meant he avoided the more severe sentence.
His former colleague Berger was convicted in 2022 in an eight-year prison.
The “Cam Ex” scandal, considered the biggest tax fraud case in Germany’s history, prompted an avalanche of lawsuits and cast a shadow over politicians, including former German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz.
Scholz was accused of protecting local banks during his time as mayor of Hamburg.
The former German leader has always denied fraud, and the prosecutor decided to stop the lawsuit against him due to insufficient evidence.
German authorities have recovered about 3.4 billion euros through several convictions and lawsuits so far. However, hundreds of billions of euros are still missing.
Other investigations into the remaining lost funds are underway.
