Axel Hilpert

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Axel Hilpert (born October 12, 1947 in Nordhausen ; † found dead on August 9, 2018 in Berlin-Hakenfelde ) was a German real estate agent . He was an unofficial employee of the GDR State Security . In 2017, he was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for subsidy fraud and tax evasion.

Life

Stasi employee and key figure in arms deals with Cuba

In the GDR he was chief antiques buyer in the area for commercial coordination (KoKo) . In addition, he was an unofficial employee (IM) "Monika" in the service of the Stasi - Main Department II / 1 (counter-espionage), which was responsible for monitoring its own employees. Because of the suspicion of unauthorized taking advantage in the form of “agency fees” or “tax fees” in the context of so-called car swap transactions (antiques surrendered by GDR citizens in exchange for a new vehicle), the Stasi main department VII / 13 (“defense” within the ministry) took 1984/85 of the interior / MdI as well as in the DVP ) against Hilpert investigations for corruption. Despite clear evidence (Hilpert is said to have collected unauthorized commissions of up to 100,000 GDR Marks), the proceedings on the intervention of Hilpert's own department, counter-espionage, were discontinued at the end of 1985.

According to research by the RBB published in 2007, Hilpert was the key figure in a GDR-Cuba connection. In recognition of his role in arms deals between the GDR and Cuba , the Cuban Interior Ministry is said to have awarded him the rank of Colonel in honor of him, according to the MfS files. Hilpert's lawyer denied this in 2012.

In 1990 he testified to the police that there was a forgery alliance between KoKo and Cuba. Cuba produced reprints of historical postage stamps, for which the KoKo in turn delivered forged certificates of authenticity. The stamps were intended for sale through a West Berlin auction house in order to procure valuable foreign currency for the GDR. Before the KoKo investigation committee, Hilpert revoked his information.

Conviction for subsidy fraud

Since the peaceful revolution in 1989 in the GDR, Hilpert worked as a real estate dealer; his company "Kontor für Brandenburgische Liegenschaften" is based in Potsdam. In this context, at the beginning of the 1990s, he was involved in a property deal with the then Brandenburg Minister for Construction, Jochen Wolf , which led to Wolf's resignation because he was taking advantage of the position.

With the media manager Hans-Hermann Tiedje , he opened a luxurious guest resort on Schwielowsee in 2005 . In the run-up to the G8 summit in Heiligendamm in 2007, the holiday complex housed the working group of G8 finance ministers.

On June 9, 2011 Hilpert was arrested on suspicion of subsidy fraud in relation to state subsidies for the Schwielowsee resort. After 24 days of trial, he was sentenced on June 13, 2012 to a prison term of five years and eight months. The start of detention was suspended for health reasons against the payment of a deposit of 500,000 euros and the surrender of a passport and identity card. In February 2017, the second instance was sentenced to imprisonment for three years and nine months, but the appeal was rejected by the Federal Court of Justice. In March 2018 Hilpert was sentenced to settle a claim from the Brandenburg State Investment Bank in the amount of 3.278 million euros. On July 2, 2018, Hilpert began his prison sentence in the Berlin-Hakenfelde prison , where he was found dead about a month later.

Recovery of stolen works of art

His involvement in the recovery of the oil painting "View of a Harbor" by Caspar David Friedrich, stolen from Potsdam's Charlottenhof Palace in 1996, and in the reintroduction of a valuable mosaic in the Amber Room in 1997 became known.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Axel Hilperts. In: GDR Lexicon. October 5, 2011, accessed August 9, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Ulf Bischof: The art and antiques GmbH in the field of commercial coordination. Berlin 2003, p. 124 ( Google books, limited preview )
  3. ^ Gabi Probst, Sascha Adamek : Resort Schwielowsee: Meeting of the G-8 ministers. (doc file, 30 kB) In: RBB policy magazine “Klartext”. May 16, 2007, accessed August 9, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b Andreas Förster: Axel Hilpert and Hans-Hermann Tiedje, a former Stasi spy and a former Kohl adviser, are building a hotel complex on Schwielowsee: In the positive pentagon. In: Berliner Zeitung . August 12, 2004, archived from the original on November 26, 2014 ; accessed on August 9, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Economic experts give hotelier Hilpert backing. In: moz.de . April 16, 2012, accessed August 9, 2018 .
  6. ↑ a b Art theft: "Yes, that's the real one" . In: Der Spiegel . No. 11 , 1997, pp. 36-37 ( Online - Mar. 10, 1997 ).
  7. ↑ Stolpe: "Lousy campaign of revenge". In: Focus 33/1993. August 16, 1993. Retrieved August 9, 2018 . Jochen Wolf: The files. In: MOPO.de . August 6, 2001. Retrieved August 9, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Gerd Novakowski: Very vulnerable: Brandenburg's special tradition. In: pnn.de . February 12, 2012, accessed August 9, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Steffen Uhlmann: Curious career: Little Florida on Schwielowsee. In: sueddeutsche.de . August 12, 2007. Retrieved August 9, 2018 .
  10. ^ Gudrun Mallwitz: G-8 ministers meet with ex-Stasi man . In: Berliner Morgenpost , May 18, 2007.
  11. ↑ Michael Jürgs, Peter Tiede: Suspected fraud: Air booked. In: pnn.de. June 10, 2011, accessed August 9, 2018 .
  12. ^ Thorsten Metzner, Henry Klix: Hotelier Hilpert at large despite prison sentence. In: Der Tagesspiegel . June 13, 2012, accessed August 3, 2012 .
  13. ↑ a b Thorsten Metzner: Hilpert has to pay three million. In: Potsdam's latest news . April 26, 2018. Retrieved August 9, 2018 .
  14. ↑ Ulrich Wangemann: Hilpert speculates on loosening his detention. In: Märkische Allgemeine . July 3, 2018, accessed July 5, 2018 .
  15. ↑ Sentenced to imprisonment for tax evasion: Ex-hotelier Axel Hilpert died in prison. In: rbb24.de. August 9, 2018, accessed August 9, 2018 .
  16. ↑ Frank Junghänel: The mosaic confiscated in Bremen does not help the researchers in their search for the Amber Room: One picture and no trace. In: Berliner Zeitung . May 16, 1997, accessed August 9, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Hilpert, Axel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German real estate agent, full-time and unofficial Stasi employee
DATE OF BIRTH October 12, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Nordhausen
DATE OF DEATH before August 9, 2018
Place of death Berlin