Ex-Fund Managers Face Trial In Munich For Evading Millions In Taxes

MUNICH, Oct 29 (Bernama-dpa) -- Two former fund managers are to be tried in a regional court in the southern German city of Munich next month, accused of evading taxes worth €343 million (US$371 million) through so-called "cum-ex" transactions. 

Their trial is due to open on November 7. The Chamber for Economic Crimes allowed the public prosecutor's indictment to go ahead unchanged for the main hearing, reported German news agency dpa.

The case is the latest in Germany's "cum-ex" finance scandal, which involved the aggressive manipulation of an apparent loophole in German tax law that allowed people to claim refunds on taxes they had never paid. 

Cum-ex transactions involved investors swapping shares back and forth with ("cum") and without ("ex") dividend entitlement around the date when dividends are paid.

The apparent loophole was closed in 2012 and German courts eventually ruled that the scheme amounted to criminal tax avoidance. 

Total tax losses from cum-ex schemes are estimated to have cost the German government tens of billions of euros in lost revenue.

The two managers allegedly used cum-ex transactions in 2009 and 2010 to call on the tax authorities to refund capital gains tax that had not been paid. 

The defendants are managing directors and board members of companies in a group based in Munich. 

The public prosecutor alleges that the group of companies traded in some 900 million shares of German companies to obtain the tax refund. The necessary money came from investors and banks. 

--BERNAMA-dpa