In the multi-million euro tax scandal complex surrounding Cum-Ex share deals, criminal judges at the Frankfurt Regional Court delivered the next verdict against one of the key players on January 30, 2024.
This is the first time that the criminal liability of a tax lawyer from a major law firm has been examined in a Cum-Ex trial in connection with their tax law advice.
Ulf Johannemann, a tax lawyer and former partner at the major law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, was convicted of aiding and abetting aggravated tax evasion (Sections 370 (1), (3) AO, 26 StGB ) in four cases and has now been sentenced to three years and six months in prison.
The former top lawyer is alleged to have advised Maple Bank on Cum-Ex transactions and, in this context, authored legal opinions on the tax admissibility of the share transactions, even though it was already unclear at that time whether this type of share deal was to be considered legal.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, Ulf Johannemann “deliberately provided ‘accommodation’ opinions […] to give the transactions a supposedly legal appearance.”
In 2009, he is also alleged to have attempted to misrepresent the Cum-Ex deals to the tax authorities in order to prevent state repayment claims.
Maple Bank subsequently conducted numerous Cum-Ex transactions, relying significantly on Johannemann’s “accommodation opinions.” According to the prosecution, this caused a total tax loss of approximately 388 million euros.
In 2016, the bank faced insolvency due to a tax provision related to Cum-Ex transactions, leading to its closure by the financial supervisory authority.
After the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) classified Cum-Ex transactions as criminal tax evasion in 2021, the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor General’s Office filed charges against Johannemann and, in its closing argument, requested a prison sentence of five years and six months for the tax lawyer. The defense had argued for a suspended sentence.
The court assessed the advisory services of the lawyer, who only confessed shortly before the end of the trial, as “central contributions to the crime” and spoke of a “high level of criminal energy.”
A Maple banker, who was also charged, had already confessed at the start of the proceedings. The court sentenced him to a two-year prison term, which was suspended.
The verdict is not yet final; it remains to be seen whether Johannemann and his defense will file an appeal.
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