Money-laundering agency raids offices of Merkel ‘heir’

GERMAN prosecutors have raided the ministry of Olaf Sholz, the favourite to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor, as part of a money-laundering investigation.

Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) yesterday demanded an explanation from the finance minister, but Mr Scholz dismissed the highly unusual raid as politicised.

Mr Scholz, currently finance minister in Mrs Merkel’s coalition government, has emerged as the favourite to succeed her after his centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) opened a commanding lead in the polls.

With just over two weeks to go before elections, however, the search at the finance ministry has placed Mr Scholz under renewed scrutiny.

“There are a great many questions that the SPD candidate for chancellor must answer,” Paul Ziemiak, the CDU party chairman, told Spiegel magazine. “He must explain himself immediately.”

Thursday’s raid was part of an investigation into the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the finance ministry’s antimoney laundering agency. Prosecutors are investigating whether it was ordered to ignore suspicious payments to Africa that have been linked to drug and arms trafficking.

Mr Scholz said prosecutors “could have put their questions in writing”.

“They chose to act in a different way. Everyone can judge that for themselves,” he said.

But Armin Laschet, the CDU leader and his main rival in the elections on Sep 26, condemned his reaction. “When your own ministry is searched, telling the public prosecutors what they would have done better is the behaviour of a populist state,” Mr Laschet said.

The timing of the raid has renewed attention on other controversies involving Mr Scholz. He has faced questions over how much he knew in advance of the €1.9billion (£1.6billion) financial scandal that brought down Wirecard, the online payment giant. The FIU and Bafin, the German regulator, have come under scrutiny over their failure to spot the irregularities at Wirecard.

Mr Scholz has also faced questions over whether he intervened to protect a private bank accused of a €47million (£40million) tax fraud during his time as mayor of Hamburg.