SPD Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz is touring Baden-Württemberg in the final spurt of the Bundestag election campaign this Monday - but also has to face the questions of the Finance Committee in the Bundestag.
It's about the searches in his Federal Ministry of Finance in connection with money laundering investigations.
In order to be able to combine the two, Scholz would join the committee meeting by phone in the morning, the SPD said.
The Union had criticized the fact that Scholz did not appear in person before the committee in Berlin. "There are serious allegations of failures in the fight against money laundering in the room," said Union parliamentary deputy Andreas Jung. The SPD rejected the criticism and stated that the dates in Baden-Württemberg had been planned for months and had been announced with posters for weeks. Scholz is just a week before the election with his SPD in surveys, in some cases well ahead of the Union.
In investigations against employees of the anti-money laundering unit FIU, the Osnabrück public prosecutor had the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Federal Ministry of Justice searched.
The investigators wanted to gain access to e-mails between the FIU and the ministry.
The question is whether the FIU passed on information from banks about terrorist financing to the police and the judiciary too late, so that the crimes could not be prevented.
Criticism of Scholz criticism
Scholz had been critical of the raid in his ministry.
Such "allegations against the work of the public prosecutor's office" are "completely unacceptable," said Union parliamentary group vice Carsten Linnemann of the Rheinische Post.
"It's just not right, not even in the hottest election campaign, because it undermines trust in our rule of law."
Linnemann called for a comprehensive explanation.
“Olaf Scholz is applying for the highest government office in Germany.
In this respect, he himself must have an interest in the immediate and complete clarification of the events in his ministry and the subordinate authorities. "
CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt told the Rheinische Post that the searches in Scholz's federal ministry were “not a petitesse and not a common practice”.
"Scholz's attempt to attack the judiciary shows that he apparently wants to divert attention from the background of the investigation."
FDP general secretary Volker Wissing accused Scholz of errors and omissions in the fight against money laundering and tax fraud. "Customs was and is a case of restructuring when I look at the fight against money laundering and illegal work," said the FDP politician. "The problems with staff, equipment and the lack of professional competence in this area have been known for a long time and unfortunately they also show the little importance that both the CDU and the SPD attach to the fight against money laundering."