More than 400 million euros earned: politician’s daughter goes to jail because of the mask affair

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She was one of the big financial winners of the Corona crisis in Germany: the politician’s daughter, Andrea Tandler, has to go to prison for four years and five months because she did not properly tax millions in profits from mask companies.

With the sentence, the Munich I Regional Court on Friday remained within the framework of an agreement between the litigants. Tandler and her partner Darius N., who were sentenced to three years and nine months in prison, were initially released despite the high sentences.

Daughter of the Bavarian Minister of Finance

The tax process was related to the Bavarian face mask affair, where entrepreneurs, in collaboration with well-known politicians, were able to make large profits of millions at the beginning of the corona pandemic by selling protective face masks.

Chairman Andrea Wagner referred in particular to Tandler’s close contacts with the family of CSU legend Franz Josef Strauss. “The mask deals were made through Defendant Tandler’s private contacts with her childhood friend Monika Hohlmeier,” she said. The CSU European MP Hohlmeier is the daughter of Strauss – Tandler is the daughter of the former general secretary of the CSU and the Bavarian Finance Minister Gerold Tandler.

More than 400 million euros in turnover

Tandler pretended to Hohlmeier that she only wanted to do something good by arranging masks, but kept quiet about her millions in commission, Wagner said. Hohlmeier actually arranged the contacts for Tandler. Chats show that Tandler was aware of the impact of her last name – she and her business partners called a chat group ‘The Ministry’.

At the beginning of the corona pandemic, Tandler and her partner N. quickly achieved a turnover of more than 440 million euros with a newly founded company with masks and protective clothing, and Tandler collected 48.3 million euros in commissions. Judge Wagner said the high yield disturbed the morals of many people – but the two defendants were “not convicted as war profiteers and lucky soldiers” during the corona pandemic. “No one should be ashamed of economic success.”

confession made

According to the judge, the only issue in the proceedings was that Tandler and N. had taxed their income, but had done so incorrectly and had done so using structures intended to reduce taxes. The two chose the Munich suburb, which the judge described as the “tax haven Gruenwald,” as their company headquarters to take advantage of the significantly lower business taxes there compared to Munich. In fact, the two did not work in Grünwald.

The verdict is part of an agreement that provided for a maximum of four years and nine months in prison for Tandler and a maximum of four years in prison for S.. During the course of the agreement, both defendants made extensive confessions and the resulting tax damages of 11 paid .5 million euros.

Tandler’s health is poor

After the verdict was announced, the court conditionally suspended the two arrest warrants against Tandler and N., who had been in custody since January. Only once the verdict against both of them is final will both be summoned to prison. It is unclear when that will be, according to a court spokesperson.

Tandler’s health is poor. The judge viewed this as a mitigation of the sentence, as well as the two defendants’ confession and, in Tandler’s case, their “insight and remorse.” A spokeswoman for the Public Prosecution Service says she is very satisfied with the verdict, because the court followed the legal assessment of the charges.

Tandler’s defense explained that the lesser sentence recognized that Tandler had made a true confession. “It is extremely positive that our client was allowed to leave the courtroom with us today. This gave her the opportunity to cure her illness as much as possible before she begins her prison sentence.” (AFP)

Source: Blick