Frontrunner to succeed Angela Merkel grilled over financial scandal

The frontrunner to succeed Angela Merkel as German chancellor was forced to call off election campaign appearances after he was summoned to appear before a parliamentary committee on Monday.

With just six days to go until the German elections, Olaf Scholz had to cancel two campaign events at the last minute after he was ordered to appear before an emergency session of the finance committee.

Mr Scholz, who is finance minister in Mrs Merkel’s coalition government, was summoned to explain a raid by prosecutors at his ministry.

He initially insisted he would only appear by videolink in order not to disrupt his campaign schedule, but backed down on Monday morning and appeared in person, reportedly using a back entrance to the parliament building in order to avoid reporters.

Prosecutors are investigating allegations that the finance ministry’s anti-money laundering unit failed to pass significant information to the police. The case is believed to centre on large money transfers to Africa suspected to be linked to terrorism financing.

Mr Scholz has alleged the raid was politically motivated and intended to damage his election campaign.

Monday’s hearing by the finance committee was held behind closed doors but Mr Scholz reportedly told MPs he has never met the head of the anti-money laundering unit or been to its headquarters in Cologne.

“The most important question is: have guidelines from Berlin led to huge gaps in the fight against money laundering?” said Florian Toncar, an MP on the committee. “It must be clarified whether the civil servants followed instructions from Berlin or decided for themselves.”

Mr Scholz came under fire from political rivals over his claim the raid was politically motivated.

“Allegations against the work of the public prosecutor are completely unacceptable,” said Carsten Linnemann of Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrat party (CDU).

Mr Scholz and his centre-Left Social Democrats (SPD) are ahead in the polls with 25 per cent support as the election campaign enters its final week.

But Mrs Merkel’s CDU and their candidate, Armin Laschet, have narrowed the gap and are just three points behind on 22 per cent.