Kohl escapes fraud charges

The scandal has tarnished Kohl's reputation

BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl will pay a fine and escape a criminal trial on fraud charges under a deal with a state court.

Public prosecutors said they would drop a criminal investigation into his party’s finance scandal as soon as the former leader and chairman of the Christian Democratic Party pays a fine of 300,000 marks ($144,000).

The deal comes a month after Kohl’s lawyer said prosecutors in Bonn would drop the 14-month inquiry into allegations that Kohl had accepted illegal cash donations while in power.

Kohl, who governed Germany for 16 years, has admitted to breaking party funding rules by accepting $1 million in funds while chancellor.

But he has dismissed allegations, now the subject of a parliamentary committee inquiry, that his government’s decisions were influenced by bribes.

AUDIO Kohl admits illegal funding 529 Kb/49 secs. AIFF or WAV sound

Kohl's Essen-based lawyers firm Holthoff-Pfoertner said prosecutors were told last October that he would agree to pay the fine "to avoid a lengthy legal process that would be a great burden to him and his family."

Parliamentary inquiry continues

The accord removes the most direct legal threat facing Kohl but is not the end of the affair.

The leader of a separate parliamentary probe into whether the donations constituted bribes said last month that the former chancellor now had no reason to withhold the names of donors whose identity he has protected.

"We would ask him to testify again," said Volker Neumann of the ruling Social Democrats. "If criminal investigations are closed, he can no longer make use of his right to silence."

The scandal, which broke in 1999, tarnished Kohl's image as an international statesman and plunged his opposition Christian Democrats into crisis.

The party has been in opposition since 1998 when Gerhard Schroeder ousted Kohl after 16 years of rule, and its poll ratings have been sent into free fall.

CNN's European political editor Robin Oakley said what was left of Kohl's reputation had a dark cloud over it.

"He reunified Germany and dominated his country's politics for more than a decade.

"But, whatever the legal arrangements to avoid a criminal record, his record will forever now be a tarnished one. He has effectively admitted his guilt."

His one consolation, said Oakley, was that he was not alone. "It has proved to be an era when politicians were incapable of exciting enough enthusiasm from their parties to raise the necessary funds to work their political machines.

"Many have therefore taken in cash through the back door and Kohl is only one of a series of senior politicians across Europe who have departed under the blackest of black clouds in consequence."

Reuters contributed to this report.

Elf suspect appears in Paris court
February 7, 2001
Elf fugitive faces German grilling
February 6, 2001
Kohl wins key backing
January 25, 2001
German minister denies protecting Kohl
January 6, 2001
Kohl faces second investigation
November 27, 2000
Kohl memoirs hit out at successors
November 19, 2000

Christian Democratic Union
German Government

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.