CDU Donations Scandal (1999) - Legal Consequences

Legal Consequences

On January 31, 2001, the administrative court in Berlin overturned the decision by Bundestag President Thierse to punish the CDU with a 41 million DM fine. Thierse appealed the verdict.

On February 28, 2001, prosecutors in Bonn closed their criminal investigation of Helmut Kohl after the former Chancellor had agreed to pay 150,000 DM to the government and 150,000 DM to a charitable foundation.

On September 16, 2004, Germany highest court, the Constitutional Court, ruled that the 41 million DM CDU fine imposed by Bundestag President Thierse in 2000 was legal.

On September 25, 2007, the Wiedbaden regional court sentenced Manfred Kanther and Horst Weyrauch for their involvement in the party financing scandal to a fine of 54,000 EUR and EUR 45,000, respectively.

After Canada extradited Schreiber to Germany in 2009, the Augsburg regional court sentenced him to eight years in prison for tax evasion.

In September 2011, the Federal Court of Justice overturned the earlier ruling and sent Schreiber's case back to the regional court in Augsburg.

After he suffered a heart attack in March 2012, Schreiber was released from prison on medical grounds and currently lives in Kaufering, where he's under house arrest.

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