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Berlin (dpa) - For almost ten years he did not appear in federal Berlin - now Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg was back in the Bundestag, but in an unusual place.

In the committee of inquiry into the mega balance sheet scandal at Wirecard, the ex-minister was "grilled" for hours on Thursday as a witness.

Why did he lobby for German fin-tech?

How much money did he get for his consulting services?

And what exactly did he discuss with the Chancellor?

The MPs wanted to know.

From Guttenberg they got one thing in particular: a rather outraged justification.

Guttenberg, like so many others, sees himself primarily as a victim in the Wirecard case.

«As a business partner - despite certain speculations in the British" Financial Times "- one could not suspect such a fraud», he emphasized.

"If we had known that Wirecard's business model is apparently based on fraud, we would never have advised this Dax company."

The allegations against him and his team were unfounded.

"After all, I am responsible for a consulting company and not for Bafin or an auditing company."

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The 49-year-old has changed since he was Minister for Economic Affairs and then Minister of Defense.

Instead of the hair that was often gelled straight back in the past, he wears a three-day beard that makes him look a bit worn.

But you still notice the political professional: Guttenberg appears extremely confident, is well prepared, at most seems upset because he sees himself and his company misrepresented in public.

In fact, Guttenberg worked for Wirecard with his consulting and investment company Spitzberg Partners before the bankruptcy.

They supported the fintech market entry in the USA and Canada, and brokered partnerships in industry.

When Wirecard wanted to stretch out its feelers to China, Guttenberg referred Chancellor Angela Merkel to the company in September 2019.

Entry into the Chinese market rarely succeeds without political support, said Guttenberg.

If he hadn't fully trusted Wirecard, he would never have spoken to the company at the meeting.

He would “never put his relationship with the Chancellor at risk for a client”.

Merkel did not immediately promise her support for Wirecard, but referred to experts.

When she traveled to China a few days later, the Chancellor then campaigned for German fin-tech.

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However, this was all normal practice, stressed Guttenberg in the committee.

In fact, Merkel regularly even takes business delegations with her on her travels.

According to what was known at the time, the Chancellor's support was right, said the ex-minister.

In autumn 2019, however, some had long had doubts about the integrity of the scandalous company, expressed for example through media reports.

In the summer of 2020 it became clear: The former Dax group, now insolvent, may have reported fictitious profits for years.

Wirecard admitted air bookings of 1.9 billion euros.

According to the public prosecutor, it could even go up to around three billion.

As a service provider for cashless payments, the company sat at the interface between merchants and credit card companies and, according to current investigations, made losses for years.

Guttenberg assured that neither his company nor himself had at any time been aware of accounting discrepancies, money laundering or other criminal offenses.

Instead, the company relied on the company's official ratings and government testing agencies.

Of course, Wirecard was confronted with the allegations from the media, but these were always plausibly rejected.

“Wirecard's thorough-looking manner” did not let Spitzberg Partners doubt the company's credibility.

In retrospect, many things sound like bitter irony.

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Guttenberg also met with Wirecard boss Markus Braun, who is now in custody.

The four encounters were quite bizarre, the first a "remote conversation," reported Guttenberg.

Out of nowhere, Braun offered him the you.

"What a strange, not unsympathetic, but unusual conversation," recalled the former minister.

Guttenberg saw the Wirecard boss for the last time at the beginning of June this year, when the company was already under heavy pressure.

He had met a “completely good-humored CEO”, he reported.

Braun radiated an "unshakable optimism".

«I have often asked myself: Were we too gullible?

No, we were fraudulently deceived. "

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 201217-99-735054 / 3