The events surrounding a gang of people smugglers who are said to have smuggled around 350 mostly wealthy Chinese people into Germany have long become a political issue. Investigation files reveal how the group’s bosses probably operated. Another top regional politician is now in the investigators’ sights.
NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul went on the offensive. The CDU politician had received almost 30,000 euros from one of the alleged bosses of a luxury smuggling gang for his state election campaign in 2022. The lawyer Claus B. from Cologne had gained access to Reul as an allegedly reputable CDU party member.
Reul admitted to having met the lawyer eight times at a special session in the state parliament. The SPD asked whether the donations had been worth anything in return. Claus B. had “never asked for anything like that,” the minister replied: “And of course the donations had no influence on my behavior – zero.” During his meetings with the lawyer, he had “no suspicion that he might have anything to do with shady dealings,” the minister reports: “I was totally unsuspecting at the time.”
The events surrounding a gang of people smugglers who are said to have smuggled around 350 mostly wealthy Chinese into Germany have long become a political issue. The bosses were extremely clever in using party donations to exploit the political connections of the CDU and SPD in NRW regions for their own ends. The focus is on the lawyer Claus B., 42. He is said to have directed the criminal business with his law partner Johannes D., 46. B. has been in custody since his arrest on April 17. Two weeks ago, the lawyer broke his silence and incriminated several local figures during questioning.
One example is Solingen’s mayor Tim Kurzbach. According to FOCUS-online information from legal circles, the SPD politician is on the list of accused. A spokesman for the Düsseldorf public prosecutor’s office would neither deny nor comment on this, citing an ongoing investigation. Kurzbach himself stated when asked that he knew nothing about his status as an accused. He is presumed innocent until he is convicted. As we also learned, the public prosecutor’s office is investigating other protagonists from the top management of Solingen’s town hall.
Solingen’s first citizen Kurzbach sometimes appeared close to the main players in the smuggling gang. “In Solingen, we can rely on fixed contacts and short channels in the administration,” emphasized the Cologne lawyer and alleged smuggling boss Claus B. in the presence of the mayor at the launch of the International Business Center (IBCS) of the municipal economic development agency in March 2018. Mayor Kurzbach assisted: “We can learn a lot from abroad. A cooperative exchange can strengthen Solingen as a location.” The investigations by the Düsseldorf public prosecutor’s office suggest the opposite.
Kurzbach
The criminal records show that in March 2018, the German Consulate General in the southern Chinese canton raised the alarm during an investigation into the Solingen proceedings. According to the report, political pressure was exerted on the responsible authorities in Solingen in order to refute legal concerns about applications for residence permits in Germany.
According to FOCUS-online information, the German diplomatic mission in China had already described one of the scams used to smuggle the Chinese into Germany. Even at that time, Cologne lawyer Claus B. was listed as the suspected mastermind of the smuggling gang. The lawyer is said to have set up bogus companies with the help of accomplices, through which people wishing to leave the country were lured to Germany.
Through advertising campaigns, his law firm in Cologne and later in Frechen mostly targeted wealthy Chinese people who wanted to leave their country. The clients acted as alleged investors who brought in up to half a million euros into the companies. In Solingen, for example, a senior citizens’ complex with 80 units was supposedly to be built through a general partnership (OHG) of the smugglers. In total, the head of the legal department, Jan Welzel (CDU), recently reported to the city council, the accused smugglers, led by lawyer Claus B., wanted to invest 200 million in the cash-strapped city.
With such tempting offers, one could hope for municipal protection. The Bergische Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) for Solingen, Remscheid, Wuppertal, which always has to give its approval in such cases, was also apparently persuaded. This was the case with Mr. S. from Egypt. The young man was declared to be the managing director of the Solinger OHG from the smuggling clique. In addition, Mr. S., allegedly an economics graduate in Cairo, was planning to buy a property for his family.
However, the responsible Chamber of Commerce clerk had already expressed doubts about the person in a letter to the immigration authorities in mid-July 2017. The business concept did not sufficiently show what role Mr. S. was actually supposed to play in the general partnership. In addition, there was a lack of evidence of the necessary commercial activity. At the end of September, however, her superior revised her assessment. Despite the concerns expressed, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s managing director concluded that they would not oppose a permit if the immigration authorities came to the same conclusion. This was also the result of a discussion with Mayor Kurzbach, “who also emphasized that they would keep a careful eye on developments in order to take measures if necessary.”
According to the public prosecutor and the consulate in Canton, this is just a phrase to protect themselves. The fact is that the same Chamber of Commerce statement was made for other dubious investors from China. Ms. W. from Beijing, a former beauty salon owner, for example, appeared as the future financial director of the Schleuser-OHG. Ms. W. wanted to buy a ticket to Germany with 400,000 euros.
In response to a query from FOCUS-online, the mayor of Solingen, Kurzbach, said that he had had no influence on the issuing of residence permits. “The case processing was entirely the responsibility of our immigration office,” said Kurzbach: “I personally never had a specific case before me and I did not have any influence on it.”
The mayor claims to have only spoken to the alleged smuggler chief Claus B. on official business. “In all my years as mayor, I only had four meetings with him, but never alone.” This was even the case on business trips to Israel and China, in which the lawyer B. also took part. He said he knew nothing about the donations.
The managing director of the Bergisch Chamber of Industry and Commerce explained that his institution only examines “the viability of the investment and possible positive effects on the respective business location”. Although people are consulted, “the decision-making authority lies with the immigration authorities of the cities in which the applicants want to operate commercially”. The smuggling affair is causing further political waves. Wolfgang Spelthahn has also come to the attention of the Rhineland prosecutors.
The CDU district administrator of Düren has, according to his own statements, been accused of bribery by the smuggling gang. Here too, the suspicion is based on the questioning of the lawyer Claus B. In a press release, the district administrator stated: “I do not know why I am specifically accused.” He was stunned. I have nothing to reproach myself for and will do everything to refute this initial suspicion,” said Spelthahn. He will now request access to the files and has also informed the parliamentary group leaders in the district council and the district president. The district administrator has also initiated disciplinary proceedings against himself.
Apparently the suspicion is linked to Jens Bröker, a former leading SPD politician from Düren. The former head of the municipal economic development agency, who often appeared in public with the district administrator and the smuggler boss, is still in custody. He is said to have received 300,000 euros in bribes from the smuggler’s pot.
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