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In late 1999, it was discovered that the German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) political party had accepted illegal donations while under the control of Chancellor Helmut Kohl in the 1990s. This issue had been ongoing since 1995, but little progress had been made until the rival SPD initiated its own investigation in October 1999. 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... This article needs cleanup. ... The head of government in Germany has traditionally been called Kanzler (Chancellor). ... Dr. Helmut Kohl (full name Helmut Josef Michael Kohl) (born April 3, 1930) is a German conservative politician and statesman. ... // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but otherwise retaining the same mindset. ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD – Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands) is one of the oldest political parties of Germany still in existence and also one of the oldest and largest in the world, celebrating its 140th anniversary in 2003. ...

On 5 November 1999, the Augsburg prosecutor's office arrested former CDU treasurer Walther Leisler Kiep on charges of tax evasion in connection with a large donation to the CDU by weapons dealer Karlheinz Schreiber in 1991. November 5 is the 309th day of the year (310th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 56 days remaining. ... 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Augsburg is a city in south central Germany. ... This article contrasts tax evasion, tax avoidance, tax resistance and tax mitigation. ... 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Although Kohl initially denied knowledge of the donation or Kiep's actions, he was forced to admit by 30 November that the CDU used a network of secret bank accounts to conceal contributions, and in a December television interview Kohl admitted to have illegally accepted several million DM, though he did not name the donors. On 18 January, Kohl resigned his post as honorary chairman of the CDU. November 30 is the 334th day (335th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 31 days remaining, as the final day of November. ... For other uses, see Bank (disambiguation). ... interview An interview is a conversation between two or more people where questions are asked to obtain information about the interviewee. ... The Deutsche Mark (DM, DEM) was the official currency of West and, from 1990, unified Germany. ... January 18 is the 18th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

After differing accounts of the whereabouts of Karlheinz Schreiber's DM 100,000 donation from current party chief Wolfgang Schäuble and treasurer Brigitte Baumeister, both were forced to step down.

In the following investigations it was determined that the CDU possessed numerous "shadow accounts", including among other things a Swiss slush fund code-named "Norfolk". These accounts were not listed in the CDU's reports and were obviously used to mask illegal donations to the party. This practice became known as "System Kohl". Kohl, however, never proved that the funds had been used privately to bribe officials.

Since such "shadow accounts" violated the party spending laws, Bundestag President Wolfgang Thierse stopped disbursement of public campaign-finance money to the CDU. The Bundestag (Federal Diet) is the parliament of Germany. ... Wolfgang Thierse is the current speaker of the Bundestag. ...

The affair became even more explosive when it was revealed that Kiep had accepted a donation in excess of 1.3 million marks from Schreiber on 26 August 1991. August 26 is the 238th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (239th in leap years). ... 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

As consequences of this affair an investigative commission was established and the campaign finance laws tightened to ensure greater transparency. Even today, however, much is still unknown about the extent of this affair. An alleged destruction of documents at the end of the Kohl government in 1998 is alleged to be responsible for this gap in the record (German Wikipedia: Bundeslöschtage) Campaign finance refers to the means by which money is raised for political election campaigns. ...

Other German Contributions Scandals

The most well-known previous scandal was the Flick Affair (German) of 1982. 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In the months after the 1999 CDU scandal, further illegal funding affairs were uncovered, involving among others the Hessian CDU and the Köln SPD. The North Rhine-Westphalian FDP's chairman, Jürgen Möllemann, also was implicated. With an area of 21,110 km² and just over six million inhabitants, Hesse (German: Hessen) is one of Germanys sixteen federal states (Bundesländer). ... Cologne skyline at night. ... Social Democratic Party of Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands in German) Serial Presence Detect of computer memory modules Categories: Disambiguation ... North Rhine-Westphalia (German: Nordrhein-Westfalen) is the largest in population (though only fourth in area) among Germanys 16 federal states. ... Categories: Politics stubs | Liberal related stubs | German political parties | Liberal parties ... Jürgen W. Möllemann (July 15, 1945 - June 5, 2003) was a German politician. ...

Hessian CDU Scandal After the federal CDU scandal came to light, the state CDU party of Hesse's involvement became known. Among other things, the former Minister of the Interior Manfred Kanther and state treasurer Casimir zu Prinz Sayn-Wittgenstein had hidden further illegal donations as the inheritance of deceased Jews. The opposition in the Hessian state government claimed that these funds were used in particular for the financing of Roland Koch's electoral campaign (CDU Prime Minister of Hesse), and tried to have the election (which he won) voided; this attempt failed, however. With an area of 21,110 km² and just over six million inhabitants, Hesse (German: Hessen) is one of Germanys sixteen federal states (Bundesländer). ... Roland Koch (born March 24, 1958 in Frankfurt am Main) is a German politician. ...

Related Articles

• Christian Democratic Union of Germany
• Politics of Germany
• Helmut Kohl

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU - Christlich-Demokratische Union) is a political party in Germany, founded after World War II by Konrad Adenauer, among others. ... The Federal Republic of Germany (in German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is a federal representative democracy. ... Dr. Helmut Kohl (full name Helmut Josef Michael Kohl) (born April 3, 1930) is a German conservative politician and statesman. ...

External links

• Final Report of the Bundestag Investigation Committee on "Party Donations" (German; PDF)
• BBC News Report