Tom Sims

FRANKFURT, (Reuters) – A German politician mobilized a protest to a Russian resident in his resort town. This has drawn a large following but also anger emails and a threatening telephone call.

This is the German ambivalence towards becoming a safe haven for wealth, in a society that values privacy and critics argue has permitted the super-rich to hide their assets.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, France and Spain seized yachts as well as other property, but Germany seemed to remain silent.

Germany has long been the magnet of dirty money, from around the globe. “We didn’t pay enough attention for too long. Now we are paying the price,” Lisa Paus said, who is a member Germany’s parliament.

The government is just starting to set up a task force for sanctions enforcement.

Germany’s fraught relationship with oligarchs is shining a spotlight on Tegernsee in Bavaria, where officials and locals claim that at least three of the homes belonged to Alisher Usmanov (born in Uzbekistan).

The European Union described Usmanov as an “oligarch pro-Kremlin with particular close ties” to Russian President Vladimir Putin when it placed sanctions against him.

USM (his holding company), which describes Usmanov, as an entrepreneur investor and “one among the world’s most generous Philanthropists”, didn’t respond to request for comment. He also owns two other businesses that he has not responded to.

Thomas Tomaschek is a Rottach-Egern member on Tegernsee’s south tip. He called this month a demonstration to show Usmanov that he was not welcome, even though hotels, restaurants and carpenters had made money from his presence.

It attracted 300 people from all walks of the political spectrum in this town of 5,000. There was also some backlash.

Tomaschek said he got an email from someone saying, “Shame on You” for protesting “against Russian who clearly lives in Rottach­Egern as a private individual.” Another said: “Should anybody who has shaken Putin’s hand be deprived of assets in Germany?”

The caller made a mumbling sound and shouted “Nazipig” while talking to the operator. This prompted him to make a formal complaint, as well as to take an axe that he was using to cut wood off his property in case anyone violent came. It was confirmed by the local police.

Graphic: Germany wrestles with oligarch ties: https://graphics.reuters.com/UKRAINE-CRISIS/xmvjoezggpr/chart.png

‘SAFE HAVEN’

Angrily grass root activists now draw attention to Germany’s incompetence when it comes to seizing asset.

Mathis Lohaus is a Freie Universitaet Berlin researcher who focuses his research on corruption. He is shocked that nobody had seized a superyacht, which the United States claims is Usmanov’s, and was berthed at the Hamburg port.

Lohaus claimed that he went to Twitter (NYSE 🙂 in frustration at Germany not securing the ship. It has an indoor swimming pool, two helicopter pads, and is worth more than $600 millions.

Lohaus stated that Germany’s history has been one of “unenthusiastic enforcement” for the past few years.

A spokesperson from Hamburg’s economics minister said that the yacht has not been confiscated.

A prominent group fighting financial crime has launched an online petition to Christian Lindner, the German Finance Minister.

They all have a safe place to stash their money in Germany. It must end immediately! The petition is called “Finanzwende”. According to Reuters’ email reply, the Finance Ministry stated it was working with Reuters to reduce corruption.

Graphic: Suspicious transactions: https://graphics.reuters.com/UKRAINE-CRISIS/dwvkrlodxpm/chart.png

Germany’s problems with enforcement are partly due to bureaucracy. Responsibilities have been spread among ministries.

Germany announced last week that it would create a task force in order to monitor the application of sanctions throughout its economy, finance and interior ministries as well as customs, police and customs.

It is also possible to consider historical and cultural factors.

Hartmut Baeumer (an ex-judge and chair of Transparency International Germany) said Germans have a tendency to avoid legal challenges, even though they believe in strong protection for individual rights.

“We Germans still have to deal with the effects of the Nazi era. Baeumer noted that “the pendulum has swing very far in favour of privacy and individual liberties.”

‘A BILLIONAIRES’ PLACE’

German and other international elites have been seeking refuge in Tegernsee’s rolling hills. The area is situated between Munich, the Alps and Rottach, where Rottach Egern advertises itself as Europe’s first beauty farm.

The Rottach-Egern average home price was over 4,000,000 euros according to a well-known real-estate portal. However, the income tax paid by the taxpayers in the nearby county is 66% higher than the rest of Germany.

A prominent local businessman stated that Tegernsee was a place for billionaires under the condition of anonymity.

Gerhard Hofmann was Rottach-Egern’s city manager. He said that he has never seen such a scene in his hometown.

Hofmann stated that Usmanov wanted “just to have his peace”, adding that the oligarch helped local economies by hiring local architects and businesses.

He added, “As towns, we are neutral.”