Disrupted Peace Among Political Parties Due to Dual Agenda Calendars
In the heart of Germany, the city of Augsburg became the centre of a significant bribery trial that captivated the nation for over a decade. The trial, which took place under the highest media attention due to the party donations affair, was presided over by Maximilian Hofmeister, the chairman of the chamber of commerce in Augsburg.
Former Chancellor Kohl and several CDU top politicians, as well as former treasurers and general secretaries of the CSU, had to answer to Hofmeister in this high-profile case. Among those convicted were Treasurer Kiep, Thyssen managers Maßmann and Haastert, Max Strauß, and Holger Pfahls for tax evasion between 2001 and 2004.
The trial's evidence was meticulously compiled, with two desk calendars from Karlheinz Schreiber proving to be crucial pieces. These calendars, closely guarded and taken out of a safe by a bailiff, contained entries about trust accounts with code names. The calendars revealed information about the payment of commissions for the sale of Airbus aircraft to Thailand and Canada, as well as tank deliveries to Saudi Arabia in the amount of 5.2 million DM.
The entries in the calendars were attributed to tax investigator Winfried Kindler. The money in the case of Max Strauß first flowed to the account "Master", which investigators attributed to FJS, and after his death, the payments went to the account "Maxwell", indicating a connection to his son Max.
Interrogations were conducted abroad for the trial, such as in the principality of Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Despite the complexities of the case, Hofmeister managed the trial with conviction, crediting his two excellent lawyers and the focus of all responsible employees at Augsburg Regional Court for his success.
During a break in the trial, Hofmeister made a light-hearted joke about resigning and becoming a lifeguard. The reason behind this joke remains unclear, as there is no publicly known or documented incident involving a bribery trial between Max Strauß and Maximilian Hofmeister, nor such a specific joke.
The Federal Court of Justice overturned all verdicts of the Augsburg court in the appeal process, except for the verdict against Holger Pfahls. Max Strauß was later acquitted, with the reasoning that a trust relationship between Schreiber and Strauß could not be proven.
Despite the ups and downs of the trial, Hofmeister found it respectful that all parties involved came to Augsburg for the trial. His tenure as the chairman of the chamber of commerce in Augsburg, which made it the "process capital of Germany" for 20 years, was marked by this high-profile case. The trial against Max Strauß, with its decade of investigations, serves as a testament to the diligence of the Augsburg justice system.
The high-profile bribery trial in Augsburg, surrounded by policy-and-legislation discussions and general-news headlines, affected politics in Germany significantly. The trial, involving party donations and crime-and-justice issues, was acknowledged as a defining moment in the city's history, shedding light on corruption within the CDU and CSU parties.
