German Finance Minister Lindner faces lifting of immunity

The Tagesspiegel newspaper reported that Lindner appeared in a promotional video for a private bank, and that the bank financed the purchase of Lindner’s home.

In the news it was said that Lindner concealed the loan of 2.35 million euros from BBBank for the house that he bought in January 2021 for 1.65 million euros and the high costs of reform and repair of this house.

In the news, where Lindner gave a welcome speech as a minister for the 100th anniversary of BBBank’s operations in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and the video was published in May 2022, Lindner was released from BBBank at beginning of July 2022 after he appeared in the video It was also highlighted that he used another loan of 450 thousand euros.

The report alleges that the Berlin Prosecutor General’s Corruption Office is now reviewing the lifting of Lindner’s parliamentary immunity as a member of parliament so that it can formally investigate the matter.

Also in the news, it was claimed that Lindner, a Free Democratic Party (FDP) politician, could face not only the lifting of his parliamentary immunity, but also criminal prosecution for providing benefits.

Lindner denied any connection between the loan in question and his greeting as a minister in the bank’s promotional video, arguing that as a minister he is under no obligation to disclose his private business relationship with the bank.

Lindner, leader of the FDP since 2013, became finance minister on December 7, 2021 in the coalition government made up of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens and the FDP. (AA)