Overview
- The German Judges Association accuses state governments of easing the work of organized crime by chronically underfunding prosecution and equipment.
- It estimates money laundering in Germany at about €100 billion annually, arguing that better-resourced enforcement would return multiple times the investment to the treasury.
- Roughly 2,000 prosecutor positions are vacant nationwide and about one million cases are pending, leaving complex financial investigations under-examined and often settled by deals.
- The group points to around €40 billion in losses tied to Cum-Ex and Cum-Cum share deals as evidence of the scale of financial crime.
- Berlin pledged roughly €500 million over four years to bolster staffing and digitalization in a renewed Rule of Law Pact, but disagreements over financing led premiers to drop the item from their recent meeting agenda.