Favourite to succeed Merkel grilled over finance scandal

THE front runner to succeed Angela Merkel as German chancellor was forced to call off election campaign appearances after he was summoned to appear before a parliamentary committee yesterday.

With just six days to go until the elections in Germany, Olaf Scholz had to cancel two events at the last minute after he was ordered to appear before an emergency session of the finance committee.

Mr Scholz, who is currently finance minister in Mrs Merkel’s coalition government, was summoned to explain a raid by prosecutors at his ministry.

He initially insisted that he would only appear by video link in order not to disrupt his campaign schedule, but backed down yesterday morning and appeared in person – reportedly using a back entrance to the parliament building in order to avoid reporters.

Prosecutors are investigating allegations that the finance ministry’s antimoney laundering unit failed to pass significant information to the police. The case is believed to centre on large money transfers to Africa suspected of being linked to terror financing.

Mr Scholz has alleged that the raid was politically motivated and intended to damage his election campaign.

Yesterday’s hearing by the finance committee was held behind closed doors, but Mr Scholz reportedly told MPS that he has never met the head of the anti-money laundering unit or been to its headquarters in Cologne.

“The most important question is: have guidelines from Berlin led to huge gaps in the fight against money laundering,” said Florian Toncar, an MP on the committee. “It must be clarified whether civil servants followed instructions from Berlin or decided for themselves.”

Mr Scholz came under fire from political rivals over his claim that the raid was politically motivated.

“Allegations against the work of the public prosecutor are completely unacceptable,” said Carsten Linnemann, of Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Mr Scholz and his centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) are ahead in the polls, with 25 per cent support, as the election campaign enters its final week. But the CDU, led by Armin Laschet, has narrowed the gap and is just three percentage points behind.

‘Allegations against the work of the public prosecutor are completely unacceptable’