Overview

• Two plainclothes Kriminalpolizei officers visited 72-year-old Karlheinz Falkenstein on July 7 under a post-2022 Reichsbürger decree after he sent a satirical letter to Finance Minister Danyal Bayaz about a €9.50 late-filing fee
• The green-led Finance Ministry acknowledged that involving police was “in hindsight excessive” and issued a formal apology to Falkenstein
• The minister’s spokesperson personally phoned Falkenstein to express regret and clarify that his drawings of “robber knights” and “highwaymen” were intended humorously
• Falkenstein had contrasted the small fee burdening “the little man” with large-scale tax evasion such as the Cum-Ex scandal in his handwritten protest
• Both sides confirm that all open questions and misunderstandings have been resolved and no further action will be taken