6 Bankers Accused of Generating € 30M in Bonuses from German

Bankers accused of generating € 30M in bonuses from German fraud, tax lawyers come out with a guarantee of € 4M

Former bank employees have received millions of euros in bonuses in illegal trade schemes that also involve tax lawyers, prosecutors said in Frankfurt this week. This case is part of various investigations conducted in Germany, the country hardest hit in the famous tax fraud scandal known as Cum-ex Files.

Frankfurt Fraud Costs Germany € 389 Million

The six bankers got 29.5 million euros (nearly $ 33 million) in bonuses from the alleged fraud, German prosecutors said on Monday. The shocking figures, mentioned in the indictments filed earlier this month against bankers and lawyers, were made public in an announcement by the Frankfurt Prosecutor's Office.

The prosecutor did not disclose the entity that employed the defendant but according to sources quoted in the report, these people worked for Maple Bank. The Frankfurt-based financial institution collapsed in 2016 as a result of its involvement in the cum-ex trade conducted between 2006 and 2009 and cost € 389 million in lost taxes (more than $ 421 million).

Two bankers have been detained since their detention in December 2019 after an investigation conducted by German authorities. The tax lawyer, Ulf Johannemann, who is a former partner at the Freshfields law firm, was arrested the previous month. He has been released on bail of 4 million euros, the news agency detailed.

The case in Frankfurt, the financial capital of the Eurozone, is just one of a series of investigations in the Federal Republic against large-scale tax fraud. Participants in the fraud generated some tax revenue from ghost dividends from most German companies. Officials insist that the scheme requires intensive collaboration between large financial institutions, investors and legal experts to achieve its goals.