Eduard Lintner

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Eduard Lintner has been actively lobbying for the government of Azerbaijan, which is known for serious human rights violations and heavy crackdown on opposition. He was on the board of trustees of the German-Azerbaijani Forum, a lobbying association that is close to the autocratic Azerbaijani regime, which was described by Lobbycontrol as a "dubious Azerbaijan network" and made the headlines in the wake of the "Aserbaidschan-Affäre" lobbying scandal in the German Bundestag. [11] [12] [13] Bank records show that Lintner received multiple payments through a branch of Danske Bank in Estonia as part of an "Azerbaijani laundromat" money laundering scheme. [14] According to a report published by the European Stability Initiative, Lintner organized an election observation delegation for the presidential elections in Azerbaijan in 2013. The delegation published a positive assessment of the elections, although independent election observers had pointed out extensive election fraud. [15] Lintner, on the other hand, stated that the elections "met German standards". Two weeks later, Lintner received 61,000 euros from Azerbaijan. His organization received a total of 819,500 euros from front companies between 2012 and 2014. [16] Lintner, in turn, transferred large sums of money to pro-regime politicians in Germany and Belgium. [17] This was also made known through the Panama Papers. [18]

The Frankfurt public prosecutor's office is investigating Lintner on the initial suspicion of corruption; the police searched several offices and private premises in Germany and Belgium. Lintner's CDU parliamentary group colleague Karin Strenz was also investigated until her death on 21 March 2021. [19] [20]

In 2018, Eduard Lintner and Karin Strenz were banned from the Council of Europe and its parliamentary assembly for life due to investigations by the EU. [21] [22]

In January 2024 German prosecutors brought bribery and corruption charges against Eduard Lintner and another CDU member - Axel Fischer. [23] [24] Lintner was found guilty of bribery on 30 July 2025 by a court in Munich. The judge considered it proven, that between 2006 and 2008 Lintner received some 4 million Euros from Azerbaijan using shell corporations. Money from Azerbaijan was then passed on to Parliamentary Assembly members Axel Fischer and Karin Strenz. Lintner was sentenced to 18 month in prison, but the 88-year old was granted probation. [25]

References

  1. Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "'Azerbaijani Laundromat' brings German ex-politician into spotlight | DW | 06.09.2017". DW.COM. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Deutscher Bundestag: Lintner, Eduard". webarchiv.bundestag.de. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  3. 1 2 Suchtmittel.de (10 August 2010). "Eduard Lintner". www.suchtmittel.de (in German). Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  4. PACE. "Mr Eduard LINTNER" . Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  5. Project, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting. "Eduard Lintner". OCCRP. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  6. Bayerisches Rotes Kreuz. "Der Vorstand des BRK-Bezirksverbandes Unterfranken". Archived from the original on 19 February 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  7. "Sicherheit, Stabilität und Demokratie im Südkaukasus fördern" (PDF). Deutscher Bundestag. 4 March 2009. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  8. Registergericht Charlottenburg, Handelsregisterblatt und Gesellschafterliste zu HRB 121469
  9. "Darwins Gegner holen zum Gegenschlag aus". Spiegel Online. 23 February 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  10. "Eduard Lintner (CSU)". abgeordnetenwatch.de. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  11. Aserbaidschan-Affäre: Die abenteuerlichen Reisen eines deutschen Staatssekretärs. Vice . 1 April 2021, retrieved 3 May 2021
  12. Deutsch-Aserbaidschanisches Forum, retrieved 3 May 2021
  13. Staatssekretär verschwieg Kontakte: Im Kuratorium des Baku-Netzwerks. Die Tageszeitung. 4 May 2021
  14. UK at centre of secret $3bn Azerbaijani money laundering and lobbying scheme. In: The Guardian, 4 September 2017.
  15. European Stability Initiative (5 November 2013). Disgraced: Azerbaijan and the End of Election Monitoring As We Know It (PDF). Berlin/Brussels/Istanbul: ESI. p. 18. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  16. Harding, Luke; Barr, Caelainn; Nagapetyants, Dina (4 September 2017). "Everything you need to know about the Azerbaijani Laundromat". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2025. Between 2012 and 2014, when he was no longer an MP, his foundation received €819,500.
  17. "Herr Lintner geht auf Reisen". Sueddeutsche.de. 5 September 2017.
  18. "Aserbaidschan-Affäre: Die abenteuerlichen Reisen eines deutschen Staatssekretärs". vice.com. 1 April 2021.
  19. WELT (30 January 2020), "Karin Strenz und Eduard Lintner: Razzia bei Unionspolitikern", Die Welt (in German), retrieved 30 January 2020
  20. "German police raid MPs' homes in Azerbaijan bribery probe". OC Media. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  21. "Aserbaidschan-Affäre: Lebenslanges Hausverbot für deutsche Abgeordnete beim Europarat". Lobbycontrol. 28 June 2018.
  22. "Unionspolitiker – Kuscheln mit Diktatoren". tagesschau.de . 13 March 2021.
  23. "Germany Indicts Two Ex-MPs for Bribery". www.occrp.org. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  24. "Axel Fischer soll Geld aus Aserbaidschan erhalten haben: Früherer CDU-Abgeordneter wegen Korruption angeklagt". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). ISSN   1865-2263 . Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  25. "CSU-Politiker in Aserbaidschan-Affäre verurteilt" 30 July 2025, retrieved 30 July 2025
Eduard Lintner
Eduard Lintner.JPG
Member of the German Bundestag
In office
1976–2009