German election front-runner faces questioning over searches – KIRO 7 News Seattle

BERLIN – (AP) – Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, front runner in the upcoming elections in Germany, was confronted with questions from the legislature on Monday about an investigation by a unit of the country’s customs service, which recently led to a police search in his ministry.

Scholz and his Social Democrats have questioned the necessity and motivation of the searches on 9 September in his ministry and in the justice ministry, which is also headed by his center-left party. The center-right bloc of outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel, which according to polls is a few points behind before the election on Sunday, has taken up the searches and Scholz’s reaction to attack the candidate.

Opposition parties convened a special meeting of Parliament’s Finance Committee to discuss the matter.

Investigators in the western city of Osnabrück are investigating alleged obstruction of the judiciary by unidentified employees of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). They state that they have been investigating since last year because indications of possible money laundering from banks to the FIU were not passed on to the police and the judiciary.

Ultimately, the Treasury Department oversees the unit and says the suspicion of misconduct is not directed against its own employees. Scholz, who became finance minister in 2018, has strengthened the FIU with additional staff and additional powers, and its boss has been replaced this year.

Opponents have long been pointing out other events that have played out on Scholz’s watch, such as the collapse of the payment service provider Wirecard last year. “All in all, the impression is that Olaf Scholz is the finance minister of the financial scandals,” said Florian Toncar, a business-friendly FDP member.

The questioning comes the morning after the last of three television debates between Scholz and the two other candidates for Chancellor Armin Laschet from the Union and Annalena Baerbock from the Greens. As with the previous two, a Flash survey showed that respondents felt that Scholz made the best impression.

“I have the impression that some three debates were not enough, so there has to be a fourth now,” said the SPD state member Jens Zimmermann. “But … I think the outcome of this fourth debate will be similar to the previous three.”

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