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In the sights of the judiciary: football officials Wolfgang Niersbach, Theo Zwanziger, Franz Beckenbauer and Horst R. Schmidt (from left).
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The only Swiss accused was the German ex-Fifa general secretary Urs Linsi (second from left).
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Michela Locatelli / freshfocus
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The trial before the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona began in mid-March. In the picture the lawyers of Theo Zwanziger.
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A huge bankruptcy for Federal Attorney Michael Lauber. Because now the case is barred from which he once hoped for so much prestige.
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The summer fairy tale process has definitely become a nightmare for the federal prosecutor. After the trial at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona was postponed in mid-March due to the Corona crisis, the process is now finally history. The judges decided yesterday to extend the suspension of the proceedings until April 27, according to the decision published today. On this day the case is time-barred.
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What happened to the 10 million francs?
Four and a half years after the start of the investigation, one thing is certain: a verdict will never be reached in one of the most important cases of the federal prosecutor. The summer fairy tale case was the first of around two dozen ongoing FIFA proceedings that the federal prosecutor’s office brought to trial against chief investigator Michael Lauber (54). It is about the dubious repayment of a loan that football legend Franz Beckenbauer (74), President of the Organizing Committee of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, took up in 2002. The World Cup went down in German sports history as a “summer fairy tale”.
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The loan of CHF 10 million came from former Adidas owner Robert Louis-Dreyfus († 63). The latter transferred the money to a company conglomerate in Qatar. Its boss: Mohammed bin Hammam (79), then FIFA Vice President. It is still unclear exactly what the Beckenbauer Katari got the millions for. There are several theories about who used what to buy what for. The actual purpose remains hidden to this day.
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The accusation was: fraud
On the other hand, what the investigators know – and what was the subject of the indictment: Louis-Dreyfus wanted Beckenbauer’s money back in 2005. The German Football Association (DFB) stepped in and paid the French-Swiss entrepreneur back through one of its accounts – with a detour via FIFA – back the 10 million francs.
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The federal prosecutor accuses those involved of fraud or assistance. She indicted the former DFB president Theo Zwanziger (74), Horst Schmidt (78) and Wolfgang Niersbach (69), both members of the 2006 World Cup OK, and ex-FIFA general secretary Urs Linsi (70), the only Swiss defendant. The «emperor» did not have to answer for himself in court. The case against Beckenbauer was disconnected because of his health.
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For this reason, it was clear to Beckenbauer a long time ago that he no longer had to fear punishment. The other four defendants now have the same certainty. The case is barred. Not only in Germany, but now also in Switzerland.
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Corona crisis saved authority from even greater embarrassment
For Lauber and his investigators, the statute of limitations is both bankruptcy and luck. Because it may have prevented an even greater embarrassment. The reason for this is the disciplinary proceedings against the federal chief investigator. The supervisory authority over the federal prosecutor accuses Lauber of serious violations of official duties in connection with several secret meetings with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino (50) and cut his wages for it. The final word has not yet been spoken, because Lauber is going to court against his overseers.
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However, the affair already had consequences for the summer fairy tale process: the accused’s lawyers submitted several requests for leave and applications for rejection. Because the results of the disciplinary investigation against Lauber raise many questions. The third unrecorded meeting with Infantino in 2017, at the Hotel Schweizerhof in Bern, is particularly explosive. And it is precisely this meeting in the noble hotel, which also houses the Qatari embassy, that everyone involved no longer wants to be able to remember.
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Who was the ominous fifth man?
As the supervisory authority wrote in their report, on June 16, 2017, another person was present in the Meeting Room III on the first floor of the Schweizerhof, in addition to Lauber, Infantino, the Valais Prosecutor Rinaldo Arnold and the Head of Communications of the Federal Prosecutor, whose name was in the report is blackened. As various media have reported in the past few days, it could be Cédric Remund (38). Remund carries out various Fifa procedures – including that related to the summer fairy tale. This is evident from the indictment that is available to BLICK.
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The defendants’ lawyers had now requested that the regulator send the untanned version of the report to the judges. If the suspicion had been substantiated, further procedures involving the FIFA complex involving Remunds could fail. The Federal Criminal Court already indicated in a decision in mid-March that circumstances that had become known through the disciplinary proceedings “could result in extensive prohibitions on the use of evidence”. With the termination of the proceedings, the question of who the fifth man really was will remain open for the time being.
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There are threats of satisfaction
Either way, the summer fairy tale case means huge reputational damage to the federal prosecutor’s office, indeed the entire Swiss judiciary. In addition, there are also financial consequences: In addition to the costs of the many years of investigations that were now for Katz, the accused could face high compensation claims. According to the German sports agency SID, the lawyers of the four ex-football officials are currently examining claims for pain and suffering compensation “very closely”.
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