Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger, a member of the Free Voters, gave a comprehensive statement on his role in the business in question during the trial over fraud allegations regarding corona protective masks at the Nuremberg-Fürth regional court. He admitted to having maintained intensive contact with one of the defendants, including “a few dozen” phone calls and text messages over several months. As recently as the summer of 2021, Aiwanger emphasized that he had only forwarded concerns and supplier inquiries to the State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL).
However, he made it clear that there had been no favors for his personally known party colleague. On the contrary, the minister emphasized, no consideration was given in his direction. The qualitative assessment of the masks was the responsibility of the LGL, while its ministry and a procurement group it led focused on mobilizing economic contacts.
At the center of the trial are two young men who are accused of importing inferior masks from China and selling them to the state office at full price. Aiwanger explained that his support in establishing contact was within the framework of government guidelines.
The minister outlined the dramatic scenario in spring 2020, when Bavaria faced an acute shortage of face masks for surgical staff in view of expert forecasts of over 2.4 million potential corona patients. “We were happy with every mask. If we don’t buy it, someone else will buy it,” says Aiwanger. He further emphasized that he had personally visited companies to procure masks or material for mask production and in one case even organized police protection for a transport from Frankfurt Airport to Bavaria.
The public prosecutor’s office estimates the damage caused by the masks traded by the defendants to be over two million euros, as some of the masks were not suitable for medical use. Aiwanger underlined the difficult conditions for procuring goods during the pandemic and admitted that participating in such deals had become risky for politicians. This led to “amigo” accusations from the opposition, as one of the accused is a party friend of the minister.
