Spahn invited as a witness in the process of attempted mask fraud

In a trial about an attempted fraudulent mask business in the corona pandemic, ex-Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn has been invited as a witness. A spokesman for the CDU politician confirmed the appointment on March 7th in the Osnabrück district court. A former businessman who has already been convicted of fictitious wind power projects is accused. The “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” reported on this first.

Mr. Spahn will testify that he has neither met the accused nor discussed business with him, the spokesman for the CDU member of the Bundestag told the German Press Agency on Sunday.

At the beginning of the corona pandemic in spring 2020, the accused is said to have proposed the delivery of several million masks to the Federal Minister of Health and demanded 14 million euros in advance for the transaction. However, according to the indictment, he was neither able nor willing to deliver the promised masks. Spahn did not respond to the offer.

However, the former entrepreneur claimed in the wind power process that he had personally met Spahn. The minister even indicated that he wanted to benefit from the mask business. According to the public prosecutor's office, this statement is fictitious. The ex-entrepreneur is therefore not only accused of attempted fraud in a particularly serious case, but also of defamation of a person in political life and false suspicion. Spahn himself had filed a complaint.

The trial of the attempted mask deal against the former businessman will start on February 27, according to a court spokesman. The man was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison in May 2022 by the Osnabrück Regional Court for fraud. According to the judges, he had marketed fictitious wind power projects to foreign energy companies and, together with accomplices, caused damage of around ten million euros. This judgment is not yet final, the ex-entrepreneur has appealed.