Corona Investigation Committee: Put your cards on the table

Documentation of an article by CIC-Co-Founder Viviane Fischer, who had been the target of accusations of having betrayed Reiner Fuellmich. She is now being sued for publishing details about a loan.

For context. Emotions are running high about the trial against Reiner Fuellmich. Many questions remain about how Reiner Fuellmich got motivated to go to the German consulate in Mexico (apparently Tichuana), and sent to Germany where he got arrested. Existing information published already on December 1, 2023, indicates that it may have had to do with another “loan” which Reiner Fuellmich took, but which has not been subject to debate too much. Why not? Why (if at all) did he take a loan from his “partners” in the class action effort? The same partners he now accuses of having used extortion to place money in their accounts as early as 2022. Why did he not sound the bell about it earlier? It seems relevant to document an article that may shed some light.

Source: Corona Committee: Put your cards on the table

A statement by attorney Viviane Fischer

Deepl Translation, Source: https://2020news.de/corona-ausschuss-karten-auf-den-tisch/ [archived version]

The co-founder of the Corona Committee, lawyer Dr. Reiner Fuellmich, was arrested on 13.10.2023 on charges of embezzling committee funds amounting to € 700,000 and has been in custody since then. Was everything above board during his deportation from Mexico, which immediately preceded his arrest in Germany? Where is the money that Reiner Fuellmich should/would have returned to the committee? What about the gold that was stored for the committee?

A few days ago I received information that suggests that Reiner Fuellmich was in Tijuana, Mexico, for reasons other than simply collecting passports from the German honorary consul. Apparently, Antonia Fischer and (probably also) Justus Hoffmann held out the prospect of arrangements with regard to the Corona Committee as being possible in principle, for which the notarization of a power of attorney at the consulate was necessary or at least appeared necessary. Reiner Fuellmich had been informed that a shareholders' meeting had been convened in Berlin in this connection, which made it sensible to issue the power of attorney quickly. In fact, however, no shareholders' meeting had been convened at all.

I would like to distance myself quite clearly from this process. I did not report Reiner Fuellmich, even though he had provocatively asked me to do so many times, saying that I should prove that my allegations of (financial) "inconsistencies" were correct. I didn't lure Reiner Fuellmich anywhere either. I am still of the opinion that the issues raised last summer between adults - at least in terms of civil law - could have been settled quite simply by a few signatures and a few transfers or the provision of collateral, which Reiner Fuellmich was unfortunately not prepared to do at the time. Perhaps that will change.

I also got the impression that Reiner Fuellmich received significantly less money from the proceeds of the sale of his house than he was possibly entitled to. A large part could be in the hands of lawyer Marcel Templin, as Justus Hoffmann has explained to me, without any clearly recognizable legal reason. Clarification is urgently needed at this point. In my view, it would be unacceptable if Reiner Fuellmich were to be denied the option of settling his liabilities to the committee company, which could have a mitigating or even exonerating effect on him. The more than overdue repayment of part of the outstanding amounts would also make the support payments usable again in accordance with their intended purpose, namely for the educational work in the Corona Committee.

I assume that Reiner Fuellmich is genuinely interested in educational work and would therefore also like to support the work of the Corona Committee, especially as he is currently unable to carry out any further educational work himself. With this in mind, I would like to ask him to finally allow access to the Committee's assets, which he has invested in the "store of value" gold, by simply signing this document, so that the Committee is in a position to push ahead with its educational work even more intensively and, for example, to make the knowledge of international experts accessible again through translations at home and abroad. Unhindered educational work is currently of great importance in view of the newly fueled fears of Chinese viruses and the "rabbit plague", the WHO agenda of the pandemic pact and the proposal made at a WEF congress to involve religious communities and the military to overcome "vaccination fatigue". Against this backdrop, it is an unacceptable outcome that important funds are being blocked for no reason. These funds have been given by the supporters of the educational work in the confidence that this important work will be continued and secured.

At this point, I am publishing various documents relating to the actual or alleged events in and around the Corona Committee. I am also publishing evidence that I have not received any money for my work on the committee in accordance with the Articles of Association. The publication of the documents also serves to enable everyone to independently check further developments for their rule of law. Questions can be sent to viviane.fischer@corona-ausschuss.de. Apologies for false suspicions about me can also be made at this point ;-).

The following explanations are written in the third person, so that even outsiders can easily understand the context.

The following questions are answered, you can jump to the respective answer by clicking on the question in the list. However, it only takes 20 minutes to read the entire statement, so I would advise anyone interested to read the entire text.

Table of Contents:

A. Criminal charges

1. Who has reported Reiner Fuellmich to the public prosecutor's office?

2. Is Viviane Fischer the subject of a new investigation?

B. Legal structure

1. Which companies are affected by the alleged financial irregularities? 

2. What is the SCA Investigative Committee UG all about?

3. What were the agreed principles of joint action?

4. What happens when a shareholder leaves the company?

C. Payments to Reiner Fuellmich 

1. What (monthly) sums did Reiner Fuellmich have paid out to him?

2. How did the agreement on external liquidity reserves come about?

3. Did Reiner Fuellmich repay the liquidity reserve of € 700,000 to the committee?

4. Did Reiner Fuellmich actually "put" the liquidity reserve into his company?

D. Payments to Viviane Fischer

1. Did Viviane Fischer repay the liquidity reserve of € 100,000?

2. Was Viviane Fischer reimbursed for the rent for the committee rooms?

3.Did Viviane Fischer also receive money from the committee for consultancy services?

4. What kind of expenses did 2020News incur for the committee?

5. What expenses did Viviane Fischer incur for the committee?

E. Gold

1. What about the gold purchase? Where is the gold currently located?

2. What is required to be able to utilize the gold?

F. Sale of the Reiner Fuellmich house

1. How did lawyer Marcel Templin come into possession of a land charge on Reiner Fuellmich's property?

2. How much was the house sold for?

3. Why did Marcel Templin receive almost double the amount of the loan, i.e. almost € 1,200,000 instead of € 600,000? Can Marcel Templin keep the money?

A. Criminal charges

1. Who reported Reiner Fuellmich to the public prosecutor's office?

Antonia Fischer, Justus Hoffmann and Marcel Templin - the three of them form the "Hafenanwälte" office partnership - have reported Reiner Fuellmich. Viviane Fischer has not reported Reiner Fuellmich. According to the lawyer Dagmar Schön, the complaint is already dated 02.09.2022, although Justus Hoffmann only informed Viviane Fischer on 23.09.2022: "We will now make the complaint".

A text of a complaint that looks like a draft (without date, without letterhead and divided across various Telegram messages) was sent to Viviane Fischer by Justus Hoffmann on October 16, 2022. It took some time for Viviane Fischer to receive confirmation from the Göttingen public prosecutor's office that a complaint had indeed been filed and was being investigated. Around the turn of the year 2022/2023, Justus Hoffmann and Antonia Fischer then also reported Viviane Fischer. The investigation proceedings against Viviane Fischer for aiding and abetting possible embezzlement by Reiner Fuellmich and possible embezzlement of her own due to the liquidity reserve held by her (and repaid as agreed) were discontinued by the Göttingen public prosecutor's office on May 4, 2023 due to a lack of suspicion.

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2. Is a new investigation into the case against Viviane Fischer underway?

After the investigation proceedings against Viviane Fischer in relation to her own liquidity reserve and possible aiding and abetting of Reiner Fuellmich were discontinued due to lack of suspicion, Viviane Fischer has been reported to the 2020News UG by a person who has several previous convictions for defamation, slander, etc. because of the reimbursement of expenses publicly discussed by Reiner Fuellmich. The expenses mainly related to the expansion of the new committee studio, rent and deposit payments for this studio and research and technical expenses. Investigations were initially launched into these payments. Viviane Fischer has already forwarded the relevant proof of expenditure to the public prosecutor's office to prove her innocence (see also point D 2). 

B. Legal structure

1. Which companies are affected by the alleged financial irregularities? 

The liquidity reserves and the monthly payments to the Fuellmich law firm relate exclusively to the Corona-Ausschuss Vorschalt gUG i.Gr. foundation, whose articles of association are non-profit and which was founded by the original four committee members Viviane Fischer, Reiner Fuellmich, Justus Hoffmann and Antonia Fischer in July 2020 with voting rights for the shareholders of 25 percent each (see articles of association).

2. What is the SCA Investigative Committee UG all about?

When it became clear after a contentious shareholders' meeting of the original committee company in November 2021 that it would not be possible to reach a solution with Justus Hoffmann and Antonia Fischer in the very short term, but that the work of the Corona Committee should and must be continued, Viviane Fischer and Reiner Fuellmich decided to set up an additional interim company with the same non-profit status, Viviane Fischer and Reiner Fuellmich decided to found an additional interim company with the same non-profit statutes as the Corona-Ausschuss Vorschalt gUG foundation, which, until the problems could be resolved, would take over the financing and management of the committee's work and at the same time bring about the desired limitation of liability. This company is called SCA Investigative Committee UG. It was founded on 17.12.2021 and entered in the commercial register on 25.02.2022. Viviane Fischer and Reiner Fuellmich each hold a 50% stake in this company. This company is not affected by the financial irregularities in question.

3. What were the agreed principles of joint action?

It was agreed from the outset that both companies would act altruistically. Section 2 (3) of the articles of association states: "The company pursues exclusively and directly charitable purposes within the meaning of the section "Tax-privileged purposes" of the German Fiscal Code. The company is selflessly active and does not primarily pursue its own economic purposes. The company's funds may only be used for the purposes set out in the articles of association. The shareholders do not receive any benefits from the company's funds. No person may benefit from expenses that are alien to the purpose of the company or from disproportionately high remuneration." Furthermore, Section 12 (3) of the Articles of Association states: "The shareholders may not receive any profit shares."

The unpaid nature of the work of all committee members has also been repeatedly pointed out in the committee meetings.

4. What happens when a shareholder leaves the company?

Section 2 (3) of the articles of association states: "The shareholders will not receive back more than their paid-in capital shares and the fair market value of their contributions in kind when they leave or when the corporation is dissolved or when tax-privileged purposes cease to exist." The contribution amounts to € 125 or € 250 per head (§ 3 of the articles of association). A private distribution of the donations to the shareholders is therefore excluded in both articles of association. 

C. Payments to Reiner Fuellmich 

1. What monthly sums did Reiner Fuellmich have paid out to him?

For the first year and a half, the official committee e-mail inbox was managed free of charge by the helper S.B. and Viviane Fischer. The approximately 500 emails received daily were read, answered directly if necessary or forwarded to experts working free of charge, such as Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg, Prof. Dr. Martin Schwab and other committee guests. Committee members Reiner Fuellmich, Justus Hoffmann and Antonia Fischer never had access to this mailbox. From 2022, the official mailbox was also managed by M.B., who received around € 800 per month for this.

From the first committee meeting onwards, the law firm email inboxes of all four committee members were overflowing with correspondence in addition to the committee inbox. Many of these were multiple mailings, as viewers wrote not only to the official committee account, but also to the respective law firm addresses. Shortly after the start of the committee's work in July 2020, Justus Hoffmann, Antonia Fischer, Viviane Fischer and Reiner Fuellmich therefore discussed whether financial assistance could be provided for assistants to process the emails to the respective law firms. It was then decided that everyone would be responsible for their own lawyer's mailbox and that no money would be paid for this by the committee; Reiner Fuellmich was particularly concerned about this.

According to Reiner Fuellmich, however, a short time later, four people in Göttingen - lawyer C.B., two paralegals and notary's assistants and an accountant - were allegedly processing Committee-related emails in his law firm's email inbox at the Committee's expense. No evidence of the activity was submitted at any time. Without there having been a shareholders' resolution for the activity or payment - on the contrary, the shareholders had decided against paid activity - Reiner Fuellmich had € 29,750 gross per month transferred to him by the accountant J.K., who is an old acquaintance of his, or transferred it himself (some of the law firm invoices).

The various Berlin committee activists, including Viviane Fischer, were completely unaware of the allegedly enormous activity in Göttingen. It was also unknown to key experts who might have processed forwarded e-mails, as they received virtually nothing from Göttingen. Even the names of the people allegedly involved in Göttingen were not known, as the exchange of messages between Viviane Fischer and Reiner Fuellmich on 08.07.0222 and 10.07.2022 shows. Viviane Fischer asks: "Who are Ms. D. and Ms. L.? It's completely impossible that four people plus you handled committee emails.... That was rather a lot of emails about the class action lawsuit, which should have been handled and paid for by them...." If the highly remunerated Göttingen group had really worked for the committee, why did Reiner Fuellmich never point out possible synergy effects through the coordination of the respective activities in discussions with other committee members in Berlin and elsewhere, most of whom were working for free?

The monthly payments of € 29,750, which according to the accountant J.K. add up to around € 656,000, were also not bilaterally agreed with Viviane Fischer, as the exchange of messages dated 08.07.0222 and 10.07.2022 also clearly shows. Viviane Fischer asks: "How long has this been going on with the 25k?" (i.e. € 25,000 net plus VAT). Viviane Fischer has never been presented with the relevant invoices for approval, neither by post nor by email, even though her law firm address (c/o Viviane Fischer, lawyer) is given as the recipient address on the invoices. In a crisis meeting in August 2022, Reiner Fuellmich and the accountant J.K. then also confirmed in front of witnesses that the release and transfer of the amounts was carried out in direct coordination between Reiner Fuellmich and J.K. - without any involvement of Viviane Fischer (or the other two committee members).

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At this point, it should be noted that it is questionable whether the monthly sum was even used in full to pay the people allegedly working in Göttingen. Reiner Fuellmich stated at the crisis meeting in August 2022 that the lawyer C.B. received a fee of €6,000 per month from him. It can be assumed that the paralegals and notary's assistants (one of whom was on maternity leave for a long time) were paid less, while the accountant worked part-time. It is unclear how Reiner Fuellmich used the amount that may have exceeded the actual payroll.

As it later turned out, Reiner Fuellmich also had € 4,939.67 transferred to him via the accountant J.K. for a flight on 11.12.2021 in business class from Frankfurt to LA, among other things, without any connection to any activity for the committee being recognizable. Instead, Reiner Fuellmich had flown to the USA privately to check on his ranch.

2. How did the agreement on external liquidity reserves come about?

Reiner Fuellmich had suggested to Viviane Fischer in November 2020 that external liquidity reserves should be formed. The background was that, according to Reiner Fuellmich, the MWDFG and Prof. Sucharit Bhakdi had allegedly had their accounts blocked and/or politically motivated account seizures. At that time, there were repeated letters to the committee stating that support payments had not gone through at the bank. In addition, one of Reiner Fuellmich's accounts had allegedly been closed. The liquidity reserves were intended to ensure the undisturbed continuation of the Committee's work. The liquidity reserves, which could be called up at any time, were structured as "loans" so that there would be an official reason to retain them in the event of government seizure. The "loan agreements" for € 200,000 and € 500,000 (both to Reiner Fuellmich) and € 100,000 (to Viviane Fischer) were signed by Reiner Fuellmich and Viviane Fischer and were kept for the company by Reiner Fuellmich, in whose office and under whose supervision the bookkeeping was carried out at that time.

3. Did Reiner Fuellmich repay the liquidity reserve of € 700,000 to the committee?

No, it is undisputed that Reiner Fuellmich has not repaid the € 700,000 as of December 1, 2023 to Stiftung Corona-Ausschuss Vorschalt gUG i.Gr. Reiner Fuellmich has given many different reasons for this, most recently (also via his defense lawyer Dagmar Schön) that most of the money from the sale of his house, part of which he wanted to use to repay the € 700,000, is now with one of the three complainants (Justus Hoffmann, Antonia Fischer or Marcel Templin) or in their environment (see below under F.). Reiner Fuellmich had previously always publicly stated that he had used the Committee's liquidity reserve to redeem land charges encumbering his privately and professionally used property. He had also repeatedly promised publicly to repay the €700,000 from the proceeds of the sale of the property, which was up for sale from summer 2022. 

4. Did Reiner Fuellmich actually "put" the liquidity reserve into his house?

Reiner Fuellmich has repeatedly stated publicly that he "put the € 700,000 into his house". "His house" refers to his Göttingen bungalow, in which his law firm and his apartment were located, and not to the acquisition of another property. Viviane Fischer has not given her consent to invest the liquidity reserve in a property, i.e. to make an illiquid investment. No security has been provided to the committee for the property, so that no real "store of value" has been created for the committee, as has now been shown. The money has not even been returned to Reiner Fuellmich after the sale of the house, let alone to the committee company.

Reiner Fuellmich wrote to Viviane Fischer on 07.07.2022 in response to her question as to why the money "only parked" with him could not be repaid immediately: "We left nothing in the accounts, invested everything in real long jumpers. In other words, we paid back the bank loans that were on the house (as we wouldn't have been able to get an extension from the bank anyway). But it's all there, and as we're selling the house now, it should all be back with you in a few weeks. Viviane Fischer replies: "I wouldn't have agreed to that with the house. It's a liquidity problem. As we can see now. And if the crash comes, you can't get it out at all..."

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According to the Göttingen public prosecutor's office, Reiner Fuellmich did not "put" the money into his house at all, or only a small part of it. The Göttingen public prosecutor writes in its press release dated 16.10.2023: "The investigation revealed that the accused had a 53-year-old co-defendant make a payment of €200,000 to his wife in 20 transactions of €10,000 each on November 10, 2020. He is said to have subsequently used the money in full together with his wife. On 27.05.2021, he then allegedly transferred € 500,000 to his private account himself and also used this amount of money privately together with his wife. Around € 115,000 is said to have been used to pay off a private real estate loan and around € 70,000 to pay off his own work-related loan."

D. Payments to Viviane Fischer

1. Did Viviane Fischer repay the liquidity reserve in the amount of € 100,000?

Yes, the full repayment was made in accordance with the liquidity requirements in the period 16.08.-21.10.2022.

2. Was Viviane Fischer reimbursed the rent for the committee rooms?

The first committee rooms were the offices of Viviane Fischer. The premises could no longer be used as a law office from the start of the committee meetings due to access by persons not bound to legal confidentiality (film technicians, etc.). The law firm therefore moved to another room in the same building. When the committee then continued its work for an indefinite period, Viviane Fischer passed on her very favorable rent without any surcharge. The monthly rent charged amounted to € 663 plus a flat-rate electricity fee of € 127 plus VAT, i.e. a total of € 952 gross per month for approximately 90 square meters. The invoice submitted by Viviane Fischer for the first four months was labeled "Hosting Committee Meeting" so that no explicit subtenant permission had to be obtained for the use of the rooms. The corresponding committee payment for the months 07-10/2020 of € 3,712 reflects this.

3. Did Viviane Fischer also receive money from the committee for consultancy services?

Reiner Füllmich has shown invoices from Viviane Fischer in a video, which are for "consulting costs". From November 2020, the accountant J.K. created invoices on the invoice form he had received from Viviane Fischer's law firm and indicated "legal advice costs" instead of "committee meeting orientation" as the intended purpose, as it turned out when his documents were handed over in summer 2022. It is unclear why this was done. Neither J.K. nor Viviane Fischer issued additional rental invoices. Viviane Fischer only received the monthly rental costs of € 952 - regardless of how the accountant J.K. has now titled this item. She did not also receive a further € 952 per month for consultancy services. If Viviane Fischer had not been reimbursed for her rent, not only would she not have received any money for her work - in accordance with the articles of association - but she would also have paid an additional € 952 out of her own pocket each month.

4. What kind of expenses did 2020News have for the committee?

2020News UG, founded by Viviane Fischer and Reiner Fuellmich in the fall of 2020, publishes findings from experts heard by the Corona Committee in the form of articles and reports on current events, particularly with regard to the measures taken. 2020News UG had no income for a long time, as it did not appeal for donations for itself, but only for donations for the committee by means of a banner. It makes its own news service available to the public without a payment barrier. Almost all of the 419 articles on www.2020news.de are written by Viviane Fischer and she has not received any payment for them.

At the end of 2021, the Corona Committee had to look for new premises. The opportunity arose to rent the commercial premises currently in use in Berlin-Charlottenburg. This is 127 square meters for € 13.50 net cold. The foundation Corona-Ausschuss Vorschalt gUG i.Gr. was not yet registered, Justus Hoffmann and Antonia Fischer had already withdrawn from the meetings for half a year at that time (they were only minimally involved behind the scenes anyway) and conflicts had arisen. It made sense not to immediately confront the landlord with internal company disputes, so the premises were rented by 2020News UG for the sake of simplicity.

The premises had not previously been used as a film studio, so conversion work had to be carried out. As it was clear that the Committee's educational work and reappraisal activities, which had become a nationally and internationally recognized institution critical of the measures, would have to continue indefinitely, the new premises were to be tailored entirely to the Committee's needs. Among other things, separate control and interpreting rooms had to be created, as well as soundproofing. The Corona Committee was to bear the costs of the conversion in line with the Committee's requirements. As 2020News UG also wanted to pursue its own media projects, for which it would need access to a studio, it was agreed at the time that the committee would bear 75% of the rental costs, 2020News the rest and that 2020News UG would be able to use the rooms from time to time in return.

Specifically, the conversion and fit-out costs amounted to less than € 40,000 for all work and materials. This includes sound absorbers (approx. € 3,800), the purchase of a fitted kitchen, installation of a new bathroom including new bathroom furniture, removal of a wall, installation of a new steel door, painting and electrical work, construction of studio furniture, built-in shelving for the control room, etc. Because a lot of the work was done by volunteers, the renovation and furniture construction was carried out at a much lower price than usual on the market. Further reimbursements to 2020News UG related to rental payments (approx. € 34,000 including the deposit) and payments for research amounting to approx. € 9,000 (in particular for the film "Vaccinated, now we're talking") and technology purchases (e.g. for computers approx. € 3,500).

5. What expenses did Viviane Fischer incur for the Committee?

A large proportion of the Committee's expense reimbursements and advances for the conversions etc. went through Viviane Fischer's account. This was partly because various purchases, e.g. at DIY stores, were paid for in cash. At the time, Viviane Fischer also had no access to the bank accounts of the Corona Committee and 2020News UG, so that every transfer, no matter how small, would have had to be initiated by the accountant J.K..

By the time the first reimbursements of expenses were made to her by the Corona-Ausschuss Vorschalt gUG i.Gr. foundation via 2020News UG on January 31, 2022, Viviane Fischer had already personally laid out around € 32,000. The sum resulted from expenses for sound absorbers (approx. € 3,800), wood and other building materials and other costs incurred in 1.5 years of committee activity for web space, software licenses, deposit for the new studio (€ 7,600), the first two and a half months of rent payments at the new location (approx. € 6,000). This background explains Viviane Fischer's request in a message published by Reiner Fuellmich to the accountant J.K. for a rapid reimbursement of the expenses so that she could "pay her health insurance contributions".

Viviane Fischer has prepared a complete statement of use of funds for all amounts that 2020News received from the Corona-Ausschuss Vorschalt gUG i.Gr. foundation as reimbursement of expenses and for the amounts she herself spent in this context, which is currently being reviewed by the public prosecutor's office. Viviane Fischer will provide information as soon as the results of the investigation are available.

E. Gold

1. What is the gold acquisition all about? Where is the gold currently located?

Reiner Fuellmich bought gold for the Corona-Ausschuss Vorschalt gUG i.Gr. foundation from June 2021. This was not agreed with Viviane Fischer, Justus Hoffmann and Antonia Fischer, none of them knew anything about it. Accordingly, there is no corresponding shareholder resolution. According to the purchase receipts, the gold was purchased in the name of Reiner Fuellmich (one of the purchase receipts). Viviane Fischer only learned of the existence of a (small) gold holding in early summer 2022. Shortly afterwards, she learned that the gold was in the private apartment of a friend of Reiner Fuellmich in Göttingen - specifically, it was stored there in a black ladies' handbag in a wall locker. In order to put an end to this irregular situation, Viviane Fischer collected the gold from Göttingen on June 12, 2022 and handed it over directly to the accountant J.K. in Berlin so that he could place it in professional safekeeping. Viviane Fischer only became aware of the considerable value of the gold, namely around €1 million, shortly before collecting it in Göttingen. Instead of storing the gold at a professional depository as agreed, the accountant J.K. placed the gold bars in his safe in his private home in Mecklenburg as stated. During a surprise visit to the accountant J.K. in August 2022, Viviane Fischer was informed by him of the new irregular safekeeping. In consultation with Reiner Fuellmich, J.K. refused to allow Viviane Fischer to inspect the gold in the vault. A short time later, the accountant J.K. unexpectedly stored the gold bars - without Viviane Fischer's consent, but presumably in agreement with Reiner Fuellmich - in a safe deposit box in his own name at a cash-in-transit company in Mecklenburg. At the same time, J.K. refused to disclose the contract with the transport company. It was therefore no longer possible to locate the gold at all. Following massive pressure from Viviane Fischer in various crisis talks with up to 15 parties involved, the gold was then stored with a gold dealer in Berlin on September 7, 2022 and thus secured for the owner company, the Stiftung Corona-Ausschuss Vorschalt gUG i.Gr.

2. What is required to be able to utilize the gold?

Viviane Fischer had the declarations of consent and passport copies from Antonia Fischer and Justus Hoffmann at the time of delivery to the gold dealer in Berlin, so that the gold could have been deposited with the owner company, Stiftung Corona-Ausschuss Vorschalt gUG i.Gr. However, Reiner Fuellmich refused to clarify in writing on site that he had acted as a hidden trustee for the owner company during the purchase. This prevented the storage to the company. It was only possible to store the gold in a safe deposit box at the Berlin gold dealer, to which Reiner Fuellmich and Viviane Fischer only have joint access. The gold can currently only be used jointly by Reiner Fuellmich and Viviane Fischer, i.e. the owner company cannot currently dispose of it freely. The gold dealer would sell the gold if Viviane Fischer and Reiner Fuellmich were to give the same instructions. According to the gold dealer's letter dated 10.10.2022, the proceeds of the sale should actually be credited to the (no longer existing) purchase account. However, according to the branch manager, it can also be credited to an account over which Reiner Fuellmich (also) has power of disposal as the official purchaser of the gold. In view of the dispute, however, it makes no sense to have the proceeds of the sale credited to an account from which no money can then be withdrawn due to the new stalemate. A regulation is therefore required before the gold is collected or sold, which puts the owner company in the position of being able to freely dispose of its gold. Viviane Fischer had a notarized contract drafted for this purpose in October 2022. To finalize the contract, the notary requires the account statements of all accounts of the owner company. As at 30.11.2023, Reiner Fuellmich has still not handed over the account statements. No disposal of the gold by its owner, Stiftung Corona-Ausschuss Vorschalt gUG i.Gr., is possible until the contract is concluded. 

F. Sale of the Reiner Fuellmich house

1. How did lawyer Marcel Templin come into possession of a land charge on Reiner Fuellmich's property?

Attorney Marcel Templin is the official contractual partner of the class action plaintiffs. Behind the class action was/is the team of lawyers Justus Hoffmann, Antonia Fischer, Marcel Templin, Cathrin Behn, Tobias Weissenborn and Reiner Fuellmich. It is likely to be a GbR. Viviane Fischer never belonged and still does not belong to this team. Attorney Marcel Templin has granted Reiner Fuellmich a loan of € 600,000 from the advance payments of the clients of the class action. Reiner Fuellmich probably used this to pay off a real estate loan on his Göttingen office and residential building. To secure the loan, Marcel Templin was assigned land charges from Bankhaus Hallbaum AG on Reiner Fuellmich's property in Göttingen. The loan from the client funds was terminated by Marcel Templin on 27.12.2021. Reiner Fuellmich's house was sold at the end of 2022, the loan amount of € 600,000 is said to have been repaid from the sale of the house. 

2. For what amount was the house sold?

Reiner Fuellmich has publicly stated the total sale price of his house at € 1,350,000. According to Reiner Fuellmich's public statement, € 1,158,000 from the sale of the house was paid to lawyer Marcel Templin, which would be almost double the amount of the secured loan. In concrete terms, it would be € 558,000 more.

3. Why did Marcel Templin receive almost double the loan amount, i.e. almost € 1,200,000 instead of € 600,000? Can Marcel Templin keep the money?

The additional payment of around € 600,000 to Marcel Templin confirmed by Justus Hoffmann to Viviane Fischer appears to be based on a settlement, a "one-liner", the content of which was not disclosed. Marcel Templin had written to the certifying notary regarding a settlement agreement to be concluded on December 13, 2022, with a copy to Justus Hoffmann, as Viviane Fischer became aware in the course of her legal dispute with Reiner Fuellmich. According to Justus Hoffmann, the additional approximately €600,000 is primarily land charge interest of 15% p.a. and legal fees for a possible future, ultimately fictitious foreclosure, which the buyer had allegedly wanted to avert with his payment. Both the legal justification and the sheer amount of the additional payment point to an extremely unusual transaction. Further circumstances make the incident appear very special. Justus Hoffmann says that Reiner Fuellmich had drawn up a very bad contract and that the notary was "not very enthusiastic" about Reiner Fuellmich, which may be intended to suggest that the notary, who was actually obliged to remain neutral, may not have taken Reiner Fuellmich's interests sufficiently into account when notarizing the contract. Justus Hoffmann informed Viviane Fischer on October 25, 2023, that the buyer also wanted to keep the contents of the contract confidential because he did not want it to become known that he had allowed himself to be taken advantage of "as a real estate agent". Have both parties to the contract possibly been taken advantage of in some way? Justus Hoffmann wrote to Viviane Fischer on October 26, 2023, that Marcel Templin, the creditor of the land charge, was "simply very enterprising" in the matter. It seems as if Justus Hoffmann was suggesting that Marcel Templin wanted to keep the amount (for himself?). In response to Viviane Fischer's question as to whether Reiner Fuellmich would be given the money back later - possibly to pay off his debt to the committee - Justus Hoffmann replied "Probably not. Why would he?". There is an urgent need for clarification here. If Reiner Fuellmich is entitled to the approximately €600,000, the sum could be used by him - if necessary to reduce his sentence - to repay his debts to the committee, as his defense lawyer Dagmar Schön has requested. Viviane Fischer has asked Marcel Templin to comment on the payment flows, their possible legal basis and any close connections of the persons involved. No response had been received by the editorial deadline. Any responses received after the editorial deadline will be published by 2020News.