The financial difficulties of the Munich celebrity chef Alfons Schuhbeck are apparently greater than previously known.

Almost a year after the bankruptcy, the claims in his group of companies are said to amount to around 14 million euros.

In addition to claims from external creditors, various Schuhbeck companies are asserting mutual claims, according to information from the magazine “Stern”.

Henning Peitsmeier

Business correspondent in Munich.

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The 72-year-old Schuhbeck filed for bankruptcy last summer and gave the corona pandemic as the reason for his financial hardship.

"Since I have not received the government aid that has been so generously announced, I have to file for bankruptcy for my company," said a statement at the time, which was headed "The next Corona victim".

According to the information, documents from the insolvency administration now show that the bankruptcy cannot be attributed to Corona alone.

Poor accounting

In a report on Schuhbeck's party service, the insolvency administrator is said to have criticized bookkeeping deficiencies for previous years: The "books" of the division were "highly doubtful, incomplete and not sufficiently resilient" for the years 2016 and 2017, it said.

The company's data is also "implausible", since it "obviously shows too little use of materials" in addition to booked liabilities of a good 1.8 million euros.

Schuhbeck, part-time team chef for record champions FC Bayern Munich, ran two restaurants in Munich's old town, as well as a bar, a cooking school, a catering service, a spice shop and an ice cream parlor.

It is possible that Schuhbeck only managed his companies separately on paper, but internally the business was so intertwined that costs and income were difficult to allocate.

Schuhbeck and his attorney declined to comment.

Last fall, an undisclosed group of investors and Schuhbeck's son took over the "Südtiroler Stuben" restaurant, the party service and the spice trade.

Tax proceedings are also pending against Schuhbeck.

In November, the Munich public prosecutor's office brought charges.

So far, the responsible district court has not decided whether there will be a trial.