Canada extradites German arms lobbyist

Canada extradites German arms lobbyist August 3 2009 14:46. A controversial arms lobbyist’s 10-year bid to avoid extradition from Canada ended on Monday when Karlheinz Schreiber arrived in his native Germany to face charges of tax evasion, bribery and fraud. The 75-year old will be asked to account for millions in undeclared commissions that prosecutors allege he received during a lucrative career as an overseas salesman and lobbyist. The Bavarian businessman is also key figure in a party funding scandal that blackened the reputation of Helmut Kohl, the former chancellor and architect of German reunification. Mr Schreiber’s arraignment therefore comes at an awkward time for chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, which iscampaigning for re-election in September. Mr Schreiber, who denies any wrongdoing, has fought tenaciously to avoid standing trial in Germany, which he fled in 1995 for Switzerland and then Canada, where he holds dual citizenship. Barbara Ann Conway, a Canadian judge, said Mr Schreiber had “travelled a long road in fighting his extradition to Germany. He is now at the end of that road.” Between 1988 and 1993 Mr Schreiber worked for Airbus, the European aerospace consortium, and Thyssen, the German steel and engineering group that has since merged with Krupp. During that time German prosecutors allege he received millions in undeclared commissions, including for facilitating the sale of 36 tanks to Saudi Arabia. In 2005 a former German defence minister was found guilty of corruption after admitting receiving the equivalent of €2m rom Mr Schreiber in relation to the tanks and other deals. However, it is Mr Schreiber’s payments to conservative politicians that have made him a household name in Germany. In early 1991 he met Walther Leisler Kiep, CDU party treasurer, in a Swiss car park where he handed him a briefcase stuffed with DM1m in cash. In 1994 he channelled a separate DM100,000 cash donation to Wolfgang Schäuble, who was forced to step down as CDU party chairman over the scandal. It later emerged that the CDU had for years operated a network of secret bank accounts to conceal party donations. Mr Schreiber insists his extradition is politically motivated, claiming that the Social Democratic party hopes to use it to damage their political rivals. “The Social Democrats won three elections with my case in the past,” he told reporters on Sunday, adding “if I would come now that would be the greatest thing, it would start a huge investigation”. However, although Mr Schreiber’s trial could dredge up painful memories for the CDU – Mr Schäueble is now interior minister – it is unlikely to prove damaging to Ms Merkel, who broke decisively with Mr Kohl after the scandal. Mr Schreiber is also involved in a separate inquiry in Canada surrounding his financial dealings with Brian Mulroney, the former prime minister.