German lawyer Hanno Berger sentenced in landmark fraud trial – DW – 12/13/2022
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German lawyer Hanno Berger sentenced in landmark fraud trial

December 13, 2022

The prominent tax lawyer was convicted for his part in the so-called "cum-ex" tax scandal which cost taxpayers billions. The scheme involved lending shares between owners in order to fraudulently reclaim extra taxes.

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Tax lawyer Hanno Berger stands in the courtroom before the the verdict was read
Tax lawyer Hanno Berger was ordered to repay more than €13 million and was sentenced to eight years imprisonmentImage: Oliver Berg/dpa/picture alliance

German tax lawyer and adviser, Hanno Berger, was on Tuesday convicted and sentenced to eight-years imprisonment for what's believed to be one of the biggest instances of post-war fraud in Germany.

The 72-year-old was found guilty on three counts of tax evasion that were committed between 2007 and 2011.

What was the cum-ex scandal?

The 'cum-ex' scandal was a share-trading scheme reported to have cost the German state billions of euros and state treasuries across Europe more than €55 billion ($58.5 billion). 

The tax scam involved shifting shares from major companies rapidly around a group of banks, investors and hedge funds around the time dividends were paid out to make it seem as if there was more than one owner, each entitled to a tax rebate. Each would then fraudulently claim this rebate on a single share's dividend.

Trading of this nature was formally prohibited in Germany in 2012, but the state continued to prosecute earlier deals, claiming that these also contravened the prior laws. 

The scandal had been the focus of several investigations across Germany, with the government wanting to retrieve the billions of euros that it says were stolen from state coffers.

For his part, Berger was ordered to repay more than €13 million.

The Billion-Euro Heist

How was Berger involved? 

Prosecutors accused Berger of creating and promoting the cum-ex trading scheme, in which the German state was defrauded. They said he personally profited by an amount of €27.3 million between 2007 and 2013.

During closing remarks at a court in Bonn last week, prosecutors claimed Berger orchestrated the tax scams that amounted to €278 million drawn from German taxpayers. 

The sentence is the harshest to be announced by German judges concerning the scandal. Investigations have been ongoing for eight years, spanning 1,500 suspects and 100 banks on four continents, according to government officials. 

Berger is the most high profile professional to be confivcted over the cum-ex scandal until now and was convicted after a trial lasting eight months.

los, kb/msh (Reuters, dpa)