display
Berlin (dpa) - In clearing up the Wirecard scandal, the opposition and the SPD also see political responsibility for Economics Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU).
The SPD chairman in the committee of inquiry, Jens Zimmermann, said that the Apas auditor oversight was about as well organized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs as the search for a candidate for chancellor at the Union: “Endless chaos”.
Altmaier should be heard as a witness today.
In the late afternoon, the survey of Digital State Minister Dorothee Bär (CSU) began.
display
Zimmermann said that Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) had taken the lead in clearing up the Wirecard scandal.
In contrast, the Ministry of Economic Affairs was always looking for a “small profile”.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has legal oversight of the Apas.
These are accused of negligence in the scandal surrounding alleged fraud involving billions of billions.
The MPs now wanted to know from Altmaier why the Ministry of Economic Affairs was not more committed to the issue.
In contrast, Union chairman Matthias Hauer said the strategy of the SPD was obvious: "Here smoke candles are thrown around the finance minister."
This only serves one purpose, namely to divert attention from the main character in this topic - this is finance minister and SPD candidate for chancellor Scholz.
The Ministry of Finance oversees the financial regulator Bafin, against which serious allegations are made in connection with the scandal.
display
The Green MP Lisa Paus said that Apas lacked a critical attitude towards Wirecard.
Altmaier is politically responsible.
Digital State Minister Bär presented an attempt to arrange appointments between the then Dax company Wirecard and the Chancellery as a normal process. The former boss of the scandal group, Markus Braun, had dropped during a factory tour in 2018 that he would like to get to know Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) , reported the CSU politician in the committee. That didn't seem unusual to her, especially for the head of a DAX company. The fact that she passed on such a request was "understandable," said Bär.
She then approached the Chancellor "between the door and the hinge" about Braun's request for an appointment.
Merkel told her that the request for a meeting should be passed on to the Chancellery.
However, the appointment did not materialize afterwards.
Braun is considered to be one of the masterminds behind the alleged fraud of billions in the now insolvent digital company.
Last summer, Wirecard admitted a balance sheet hole of 1.9 billion euros.
display
The witness interviews on Tuesday started late because the committee had long dealt with the so-called Wambach report in a closed session.
It was about the work of the EY auditors.
Zimmermann said the secret report relentlessly exposed the auditors' failure.
In the Wirecard case, EY auditors had approved financial statements for years and are confronted with the accusation of not looking closely enough.
In the course of the week, more high-profile witnesses are expected in the investigative committee, including Scholz on Thursday and Merkel on Friday.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210420-99-281865 / 2