The criminal proceedings against the tax attorney Hanno Berger are getting clearer and clearer.

As the Wiesbaden district court announced on Friday morning, the criminal proceedings against the 71-year-old accused should begin "probably in April".

The public prosecutor's office in Frankfurt accuses Berger of tax evasion and serious fraud because of his advice on "cum-ex" transactions.

Marcus Young

Editor in Business.

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Only yesterday Berger was handed over to the Hessian judiciary by the Swiss authorities at the border crossing in Konstanz.

Officials from the Federal Criminal Police Office and a senior public prosecutor from Frankfurt brought him to Wiesbaden, where the accused was brought before a magistrate.

Since October 2021, there has been an arrest warrant for the risk of absconding, which has now been executed.

It is not known to which prison Berger was taken.

A spokesman for the Attorney General's Office declined to comment.

In the case of prisoners in pre-trial detention, this is customary in the run-up to criminal proceedings in order not to endanger the accused unnecessarily.

"Spiritus rector" of many stock transactions

In investigative circles, Berger is considered the "spiritus rector" of many cum-ex deals.

He brought his network of extremely wealthy investors, including the late real estate investor Rafael Roth, together with banks, brokers and short sellers, who were ultimately required for the stock group transactions around the dividend record date.

According to media reports, the lawyer should have earned at least 50 million euros through the advice.

In November 2012, the Attorney General's office had Berger's living quarters and then law firm searched.

The suspected tax lawyer fled to Switzerland.

Berger defended himself against the allegations from his home in Graubünden.

After the Wiesbaden district court had allowed charges against him, he announced several times that he wanted to face the proceedings.

However, Berger stayed away from the start of the trial against him and co-defendant former employees of HypoVereinsbank in March 2021.

The Economic Criminal Court then separated the proceedings against him.

In addition to Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia also submitted an extradition request to Switzerland.

There, too, should have to answer in court.

The indictment before the Bonn Regional Court is about advising on cum-ex transactions in connection with the Hamburg private bank MM Warburg and its investment subsidiary Warburg Invest.

In the cum-ex transactions, those involved deceived the tax authorities and had a capital gains tax that had only been incurred once reimbursed several times.

This resulted in tax losses of at least seven billion euros for the tax authorities between 2006 and 2012.

In the meantime, tax offices and criminal courts have reclaimed around 1.5 billion euros or as part of the confiscation of assets.

As North Rhine-Westphalia's Justice Minister Peter Biesenbach (CDU) said in an interview with the FAZ, Cum-ex was "just the tip of the iceberg".

Prosecutors from Cologne are already on the trail of another, much larger case of tax evasion.