Gustl Mollath

Gustl Mollath (born 7 November 1956) is a German whistleblower from Nuremberg who reported about 'black money' (i.e. untaxed, laundered etc. money) transfers from Germany to Switzerland, and was then admitted to a mental institution as criminally insane in a possible miscarriage of justice scandal.

Whistleblower

Anxious about his then-wife's business practice which he considered illegal, Mollath informed her employer, the HypoVereinsbank (HVB) first and later the public prosecution autorities. Despite a high level of detail including names and bank accounts, his allegations were initially dismissed by the public prosecution authorities as "too inaccurate" and "too generic", and as paranoid rants. In 2004, tax authorities did not pursue the matter after a judge informed them of his opinion that Mollath was a confused person.

Judged criminally insane

Mollath found himself tried for various criminal charges including criminal assault leveled against him by his ex-wife, a HVB employee who was deeply involved in the illegal transactions. In 2006 he was judged not guilty by reason of insanity, and as dangerous to the public; he was subsequently admitted to a hospital for the criminally insane. Mollath had refused to cooperate with the court's psychiatrist, who had taken Mollath's accusations against his wife and the HVB as evidence of a paranoid psychosis.

Mollath's supposed medical condition was in turn used as an argument as to why his allegations against the HVB should not be taken seriously.

Case under review

As of 30 November 2012, Mollath's case is under review as a possible miscarriage of justice scandal following wide media coverage on the case, including Süddeutsche Zeitung, SPIEGEL, WELT, and taz (die tageszeitung), after his whistleblowing statements were belatedly found to be accurate.

It has since been revealed by the Süddeutsche Zeitung that the HVB had launched an internal audit after Mollath informed them long before he informed the prosecution authorities; the audit was completed in 2003 but no criminal charges were filed by HVB because the results were, according to a later explanation, "too vague", which in turn is considered a "grotesque downplay" by the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

There is also an affidavit to the effect that Mollath's ex-wife had previously announced to others that she would "destroy" him if he blew the whistle on her or the HVB, including the threat of charges and challenging his mental sanity. She allegedly also said he would get to keep 500,000 € if he remained silent.

On November 27, the Nuremberg prosecutions department announced it would be reviewing Mollath's committal. The review will also examine the appropriateness of the duration that he has been hospitalized for. Mollath has been hospitalized in mental institution since 2006.

Turn in news reporting

Around December 13 two major Newsmedia Die Zeit and Der Spiegel came up with articles shifting the point of viev in the case by rising disbeliefs to the view that Mollath is a likely case of miscarriage of justice.

Nevertheless, wellknown german lawyer Gerhard Strate took over the mandate for a possible Trial de novo in the case.

External links

• www.gustl-for-help.de(german), web presence of Gustl Mollath and a support organisation dedicated to helping him regain his freedom and prove his allegations
• German man locked up over HVB bank allegations may have been telling truth The Guardian, 28 November 2012