Josef Esch (building contractor)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Josef Antonius Esch (born October 8, 1956 in Troisdorf ) is a German building contractor and provider of real estate funds and real estate developer . He carried out most of the projects in collaboration with the private bank Sal. Oppenheim . After the death of the banker Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim in January 2005, Esch was considered the "de facto ruler of the bank". Esch was fined for fraudulent activity .

Josef Esch (2013)

Due to dubious financing, the bank got into a serious corporate crisis in 2009 . After the subsequent takeover by Deutsche Bank in October 2009, Sal. Oppenheim ended its collaboration with Josef Esch. Since then, German courts have dealt with a large number of economic processes in which this partnership is processed.

Career

Josef Esch is the son of the building contractor Christian Esch (1914–1986). As a school child he worked on his father's construction sites. In 1971 he graduated from elementary school. After an apprenticeship as a bricklayer until 1974, Esch became Germany's youngest foreman . In 1980 he passed the master's examination. After his father's death in 1986, he and his brother Matthias took over the company. From then on Josef took care of the financing, Matthias took care of the structural implementation of the projects. In doing so, he was initially able to win wealthy customers as investors for so-called builder models. In 1991 he founded Josef Esch Vermögensverwaltung GmbH .

Cooperation with Sal. Oppenheim

Via Matthias Graf von Krockow and his mother-in-law, the co-owner of Sal. Oppenheim Karin von Ullmann , Josef Esch came into contact with the shareholders of the private bank Sal. Oppenheim. Before that, Lothar Ruschmeier , leader of the SPD parliamentary group in Troisdorf (near Bonn ), the headquarters of the Esch Group, organized communal real estate projects with party member Josef Esch in the early 1980s . Ruschmeier then went to Cologne as a social and youth department head , where he became city ​​director in October 1989 and worked with Esch to thread the Cologne arena / town hall after a consortium of Cologne banks led by WestLB had rejected traditional bank financing as too risky. From 1989 onwards, Esch regularly carried out real estate projects together with the bank that generated annual returns of up to 25 percent.

The cooperation was deepened by the Oppenheim-Esch-Holding GbR , which was formed in 1992 as a joint venture between Josef Esch and Sal. Oppenheim with a participation quota of 50% each, after both partners had identified mutual business opportunities. The holding acted as the managing holding of closed real estate funds. On October 1, 1993, Esch was able to set up his first fund for an office complex in Düsseldorf-Grafenberg. In 2005, more than 60 different funds were sold to the bank's exclusive customer base. Critics complained that Esch had massive influence on the business policy of the bank until the takeover of the private bank by Deutsche Bank in March 2011, without having held any official function there. Esch had his own office in the bank and took part in the shareholders' meetings without a mandate - as a personal friend of Matthias Graf von Krockow.

After that, Esch regularly proceeded with the same structure. The real estate funds were given the legal form of the limited partnership or GbR , with the capital investors acting as tax-privileged limited partners and the holding company as general partner . The properties were either still being built or already existed. The total costs included so-called "soft costs" ("soft costs" for planning, sales or tenant search), which in some cases made up up to 40% of the total costs. The properties were then rented to well-known anchor tenants for periods of 10 to 30 years , and the existing rental risks were partially secured by rental guarantees from public institutions such as the Stadtsparkasse Köln ( Coloneum ) or the City of Cologne ( Kölnmesse ). Sal. Oppenheim acquired the wealthy limited partners from its own circle of customers and lent the limited partners' shares at a lending limit of 60% of their loan value . The limited partners included Hubertus Benteler , Alfred Neven DuMont , Heinz-Horst Deichmann , Oetker , Haniel , the Boquoi family , Wilhelm Wehrhahn and Maxdata founder Holger Lampatz, either once or on a regular basis . Oppenheim also took on the pre-financing of the joint funds. For Karin von Ullmann, who died in 2009, as for many other of his clients, Esch acted as a personal asset manager with far-reaching powers. He also personally took care of family matters at Madeleine Schickedanz and Thomas Middelhoff . In total, Esch successively launched 72 closed-end real estate funds with a value of EUR 4.5 billion. Between 2000 and 2008, the holding company paid a profit of 80 million euros annually to Oppenheim.

Damage to the city of Cologne

The business model of several Esch funds was to implement real estate projects with the (often credit-financed) capital of the fund customers and to secure the income through rental guarantees from the public sector or through the Sparkasse KölnBonn .

The best-known projects of the Oppenheim-Esch-Fonds are:

  • The television studios in Cologne-Ossendorf and Hürth . The tenant of the Cologne studio is the Magic Media Company (MMC) , which also operated the Hürth halls until the end of 2011. The (changing) shareholders of MMC were contractually bound to the fund by rent purchase obligations. Twenty percent of the shares were held by the brothers Bernd and Helmut Breuer, which they transferred in 2004 along with extensive financial obligations to Lana Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH , a subsidiary of Sparkasse KölnBonn . Due to the arbitrariness of the then Chairman of the Board of Management of Sparkasse Gustav Adolf Schröder , MMC shareholders were released from the rental guarantees in favor of an Oppenheim-Esch fund, resulting in a loss of between 80 and 100 million euros by 2008.
  • the Lanxess Arena including the surrounding buildings ( town house ) and parking garage. The lease for two adjoining administrative buildings was negotiated between Esch and Lothar Ruschmeier, the city director at the time, and is considered to be significantly overpriced. Ruschmeier later became a partner and managing director of Oppenheim-Esch-Holding GbR.
  • the north halls of the Cologne fair . The construction contract was awarded to Esch without a public tender. Here, too, the Sparkasse issued rental guarantees to the fund. Due to the high rents, Koelnmesse made a record loss of 34 million euros in 2010. After a judgment by the Cologne regional court, the Oppenheim-Esch-Fonds paid bribes to employees of Sparkasse KölnBonn. In October 2009 the ECJ ruled that the construction of the Cologne exhibition halls violated the EU public procurement law codified in Art. 7 Para. 4 and Art. 11 Directive 93/37 / EEC of June 14, 1993 and obliged the City of Cologne to reverse or Penalty payment.

These business principles were made public in 2005 in the WDR film Billions Monopoly . In the film, the former Cologne District President Franz-Josef Antwerpes criticizes :

“And if you consider that the treaty says exactly the opposite of what the Council has decided. With regard to the contaminated sites, the Council must have said that the buyer has to bear the contaminated sites. And in the contract it says that the legacy is borne by the seller, then that's a big deal. Then the council was linked - but by the line and thread. "

- Franz-Josef Antwerpes

In addition to the construction costs, fund customers were often billed for extensive, non-transparent services, the scope of which amounted to up to 40 percent of the investment amount. These funds probably flowed directly to Josef Esch or his company. However, the investors were able to claim some of the costs from the tax authorities to reduce taxes. In addition to Karin von Ullmann Josef Esch, 8 of the 15 owners of the Cologne-Arena operator at the time gave power of attorney for their assets “beyond death”.

Arcandor bankruptcy

The excessive rent payments for five Karstadt stores were one of the causes of the Arcandor Group's insolvency in June 2009.

In 2001, the Quelle heiress Madeleine Schickedanz turned to Sal. Oppenheim to expand her stake in KarstadtQuelle (later Arcandor ) with a bank loan of 120 million euros . At that time, Schickedanz was the main shareholder of the ailing department store group, but after an inheritance no longer had a majority in the company.

With the help of the bank, Esch established close contacts with Schickedanz and her husband Leo Herl from 2002 onwards . Schickedanz soon sought advice from Esch on private property issues. In 2002 and 2003, Esch bought five properties from KarstadtQuelle AG, had them converted and rented them back to KarstadtQuelle AG. The rental conditions are generally considered to be completely excessive. A closed real estate fund was set up for each property.

After the banking supervisory authority had spoken out against new loans for Schickedanz, their loan transactions were processed through the company ADG Allfinanz in order to cover up risks. In addition to Josef Esch, the company was backed by the partners Christopher Freiherr von Oppenheim , Matthias Graf von Krockow and Georg von Ullmann .

On the advice of Esch, Madeleine Schickedanz and Leo Herl brought Thomas Middelhoff into the company as chairman of the supervisory board in June 2004 . In May 2005 Middelhoff became CEO of the group. Middelhoff has been involved in four Karstadt properties through several Esch funds since 2002.

In several interviews, Schickedanz later stated that Josef Esch advised her against selling company shares in order to reduce her credit burden. Instead, it still held its shares when the Essen-based company had to file for bankruptcy in 2009. When the department store group collapsed, Schickedanz lost large parts of its fortune. She still has liabilities of 550 million euros to the bank. Sal. Oppenheim plunged into an existential crisis due to the credit risks it had assumed and was bought by Deutsche Bank shortly afterwards. The oldest private bank in Germany thus lost its independence.

In April 2011 Madeleine Schickedanz announced for the first time that she was preparing a claim for damages against Esch and Sal. Oppenheim. Since the parties had not reached an agreement in the meantime, they sued him, Bank Sal. Oppenheim and twelve other people or companies for damages in January 2012 , and the process started at the end of 2012 ( Az : 21 O164 / 12). However, there was no judgment, the parties agreed on a settlement, according to which she was awarded a fortune of around 70 million euros, including her parents' house in Hersbruck near Nuremberg and another villa in the Franconian town of Zirndorf, where her second husband, the former Quelle boss Wolfgang Bühler, has the right to live for life. In addition, there were proceeds from the sale of their real estate portfolio of around 100 million euros.

Company network

Over the years, Esch has developed an extensive company network. Together with the late Cologne City Director Lothar Ruschmeier and Christopher Freiherr von Oppenheim, Esch runs Oppenheim-Esch-Holding GbR in Troisdorf-Sieglar near Cologne, which managed real estate projects with a total value of 4.5 billion euros in 2010. A central company is Gebr. Esch Wohnbaugesellschaft mbH , in which, in addition to Esch, von Oppenheim, Ruschmeier, his brother Matthias Esch and his nephew Marco Esch are involved. With the former Arcandor CEO Thomas Middelhoff and his wife, as well as his own wife Irma, Esch founded Meav-GmbH, which was originally intended to house Middelhoff's private real estate, but this no longer came about.

Until 2010, Josef Esch owned the charter airline Challenge Air with three planes in Cologne and one plane in Paderborn , which he operated together with Matthias Graf von Krockow. One of the airline's most important customers was Thomas Middelhoff, who in 2006 alone, privately and as Arcandor boss, caused travel costs of around 1.5 million euros.

Josef Esch was also a co-owner of Consulting Plus , a security company with 250 employees, which among other things provided security guards for Madeleine Schickedanz and drivers for Arcandor.

After Sal. Oppenheim

After the takeover by Deutsche Bank (October 2009), Bankhaus Oppenheim parted with its 50% stake in Oppenheim-Esch-Holding GbR in March 2010.

In December 2010 it became known that several journalists who had reported on Bank Sal. Oppenheim and real estate developer Josef Esch had been systematically observed by the company Consulting Plus . The dossiers on the journalists included profiles with private addresses, telephone numbers and photos from private life. Sören Jensen from Manager Magazin and Jens Gleisberg from WDR were among those affected . In September 2012 it was reported that Oppenheim-Esch-Holding had sold its 51 percent stake in Consulting Plus.

Criminal and civil proceedings

Sal. Oppenheim / Karstadt

After the fall of Arcandor and the sale of the Sal. Oppenheim bank to Deutsche Bank , Esch is now a persona non grata for many of his former customers . According to a report from 2011, several shareholders of Esch-Fonds have filed legal suits against Esch and Sal. Oppenheim due to non-kept commitments, including Thomas Middelhoff and his wife Cornelie, the Deichmann family and Deutsche Bank manager Axel Pfeil . Holger Lampatz, the Kreke family and the DuMont family are examining legal steps.

In February 2012 the Cologne public prosecutor announced that it had brought charges of infidelity against Esch and four former shareholders of Sal. Oppenheim ( Matthias Graf von Krockow , Christopher Freiherr von Oppenheim , Friedrich Carl Janssen and Dieter Pfundt) . The defendants are accused of having sold their own bank a luxury property in Frankfurt overpriced. The property came from an Esch fund in which the defendants were personally involved. Because the rental income from the building did not generate the expected return, the building was handed over to the bank for 70 million euros against internal resistance. In November 2012, criminal proceedings were opened before the Cologne Regional Court (Ref .: 116 KLs 2/12), the process started on February 27, 2013. At the end of April 2013, another pending criminal case (Ref .: 112 KLs 4/13, complex "ADG / Arcandor") merged with the former, but then temporarily suspended for procedural reasons on October 15, 2013, since, according to the senior public prosecutor, the extensive proceedings should be restricted in order to ensure a concentrated main hearing. The allegation of aiding and abetting because of infidelity against Esch was discontinued on March 25, 2015 according to § 153a StPO by the regional court in return for a payment of 6 million euros (of which 3 million to the state treasury, 2 million to Sal . On July 9, 2015, the four bank managers who were co-accused received prison terms for serious joint infidelity, and Esch himself was sentenced to a fine of 495,000 euros for negligent unauthorized conduct of banking business .

Cologne exhibition halls / Coloneum

In August 2009 it became known that the Cologne public prosecutor's office had initiated investigations against the ex-boss of Sparkasse KölnBonn , Gustav Adolf Schröder , and against Esch in connection with the construction of the Cologne exhibition halls, which opened in 2006, for "initial suspicion of bribery in a particularly serious case" recorded.

In June 2014, Schröder and Esch were officially charged by the public prosecutor's office with breach of trust or aiding and abetting.

In September 2017, the process of breach of trust and aid against Esch, Schröder and another board member of the Sparkasse started at the Cologne Regional Court. After clarification before the Cologne Higher Regional Court, nine of the 14 cases originally charged by the public prosecutor's office were admitted. Due to Schröder's arbitrary actions , MMC shareholders were released from the rental guarantees for the studio and television site "Coloneum" (in favor of an Oppenheim-Esch fund), so that a loss in the double-digit million range was incurred up to 2008 to the disadvantage of a subsidiary of the Sparkasse should be. In this context, it is also about subsidies allegedly promised by Esch to compensate for the loss of rental guarantees. In return, Schröder is said to have stood up for Esch in the new construction of the north halls for the Cologne trade fair.

Movies

  • Ingolf Gritschneder and Georg Wellmann: Reports from the WDR series die story
    • 2005: Billion Monopoly - The secret business of Oppenheim-Esch-Holding , editor: Gert Monheim , first broadcast: July 4th, 2005
    • 2005: Billions Monopoly II - ... the game goes on , editor: Gert Monheim, first broadcast: December 12, 2005
    • 2008: Billions Monopoly III - New traces in the trade fair scandal /
      Opaque businesses and losses of millions - Search for clues on the Cologne exhibition grounds, Europe's largest office construction site , first broadcast: June 23, 2008
    • 2009: Advising and selling - How politicians and investors cashed in at Sparkasse KölnBonn , first broadcast: March 9, 2009
    • 2010: Karstadt - The big sale - How the department store went bankrupt , editors: Mathias Werth and Jo Angerer, first broadcast: February 24, 2010 ( DWFP 2010)
    • 2011: Nobility destroyed - the remarkable decline of the Oppenheim banking house , editors: Barbara Schmitz and Jo Angerer, first broadcast: November 21, 2011 ( DFP 2011 )
    • 2012: Oppenheim Esch in the sights of the judiciary - The accounting , first broadcast: December 3, 2012
    • 2015: Everyone against everyone - Middelhoff, Karstadt and the Oppenheim bankruptcy , editors: Ulricke Schweizer and Jo Angerer, first broadcast: January 26, 2015
  • 2019: The King of Cologne , TV comedy. Director: Richard Huber , screenplay: Ralf Husmann , main actor: Rainer Bock (as Josef Asch ). First broadcast: December 11, 2019 ( ARD )
  • 2019: The billionaire mason from the Rhine, documentation (30 min.), First broadcast on December 11, 2019 (ARD).

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Rhein-Sieg-Rundschau, October 8, 2010
  2. ↑ Troisdorf entrepreneur Josef Esch shies away from the public ( memento from September 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Bonner Generalanzeiger, January 2, 2010
  3. ↑ It stays in the family ( Memento from March 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) sueddeutsche.de, February 27, 2013
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g Manager magazine , Sören Jensen: Sal. Oppenheim. Der Maurer und die Bank ( Memento from August 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), manager magazin, September 2005, from August 26, 2005, page 32, accessed on September 21, 2010.
  5. ↑ Uwe Ritzer: Cologne court allows six charges against Josef Esch . In: sueddeutsche.de . April 29, 2016, ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed April 23, 2018]).
  6. ↑ Deutsche Bank takes action at Sal. Oppenheim. handelsblatt.com, March 15, 2010
  7. ↑ Gunther Latsch, Jürgen Dahlkamp and Jörg Schmitt: SPIEGEL TALK: “You won't come up against that” . In: Der Spiegel . No. 15 , 2011 ( online - April 11, 2011 ).
  8. ↑ Werner Rügemer: Colonia corrupta . Münster, 7th edition 2013, p. 70 f.
  9. ↑ the bank Sal. Oppenheim later reduced its stake to 5%, the remaining 45% belonged to the personally liable partners of the bank
  10. ^ ZEIT ONLINE, January 3, 2012, Josef and his greedy millionaires
  11. ↑ Deutsche Bank takes action at Sal. Oppenheim. handelsblatt.com, March 15, 2010
  12. ↑ DER SPIEGEL 47/2004, Cologne clique master
  13. ↑ Rich clientele, dark businesses - Soap am Rhein faz.net, 23 August 2009
  14. ^ Elegant and cordial Kölnische Rundschau, June 2, 2009
  15. ^ As Hans im Glück Handelsblatt.de, April 19, 2011
  16. ↑ The Cologne game is over , Die Zeit, May 11, 2012
  17. ↑ a b "Investigations against ex-Sparkasse boss" Handelsblatt v. August 20, 2009. Retrieved November 8, 2012
  18. ↑ Werner Rügemer: The banker (3rd blackened edition). Unasked obituary for Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim. Nomen, 2006. pp. 94 f.
  19. ↑ "I felt like a victim" Kölner Stadtanzeiger, July 8, 2005
  20. ↑ Record loss for Kölner Messe Kölner Stadtanzeiger, June 23, 2011
  21. ↑ a b Judgment 28 O 413/08 of the Cologne Regional Court of October 1, 2008; Section "Reasons for Decision - II."
  22. ^ The story - Advising and selling - How politicians and investors cashed in at Sparkasse KölnBonn WDR, March 2009
  23. ↑ ECJ, judgment of October 29, 2009, Az .: C-536/07
  24. ↑ a b WDR television , series die story , Ingolf Gritschneder, Georg Wellmann, Gert Monheim (editor): Billions Monopoly. The secret business of Oppenheim-Esch-Holding (PDF file; 99 kB) WDR television, July 4, 2005
  25. ↑ Werner Rügemer, Colonia Corrupta, p. 71
  26. ↑ Moment of Truth Zeit Online, December 22, 2011
  27. ↑ a b tagesspiegel.de: The Karstadt clique
  28. ↑ Middelhoff's air issue Wirtschaftswoche, July 13, 2009
  29. ↑ Germany's money nobility benefited from Karstadt rentals Spiegel Online, June 14, 2009
  30. ^ Quelle heiress prepares a lawsuit against her former financial advisor Josef Esch Spiegel Online, April 9, 2011
  31. ↑ Schickedanz brings a big counterstrike from Die Welt, February 28, 2012
  32. ^ Arcandor bankruptcy: Quelle heiress Schickedanz sued Sal. Oppenheim. In: Frankfurter Rundschau . January 19, 2012, accessed June 28, 2013 .
  33. ^ Damper at the start of the process for Schickedanz ( Memento from December 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) WDR.de, December 18, 2012
  34. ↑ Schickedanz lawsuit: Sal. Oppenheim and Esch fight back with Hengeler and Busse & Miessen juve.de, December 18, 2012
  35. ↑ Quelle-heiress accepts comparison of mirrors. de, February 2, 2017
  36. ↑ Hoppenstedt : Company database - large and medium-sized companies , excerpt on June 8, 2009
  37. ^ Troisdorf entrepreneur Josef Esch shies away from the public General-Anzeiger, January 2, 2010
  38. ^ A great deal, Spiegel Online, February 21, 2009
  39. ↑ The incredible TM Der Spiegel 29/2009
  40. ^ Journalists observed who reported on Sal. Oppenheim and Josef Esch Spiegel Online, December 18, 2010
  41. ↑ Christoph Neßhöver: Esch leaves the security company. In: manager-magazin.de , September 20, 2012.
  42. ↑ The Bark Beetle and the Cicero Bank , April 29, 2010
  43. ↑ Middelhoff demands millions back Manager Magazin, November 18, 2011
  44. ^ Revolt against "Saint Joseph" sueddeutsche.de, May 20, 2010
  45. ↑ Second indictment against Sal. Oppenheim completed Focus.de, February 12, 2012
  46. ↑ Press release of the Cologne Regional Court on the “Oppenheim-Esch” criminal case justiz-online, February 25, 2013
  47. ↑ Ex-Oppenheimers land in front of the Kadi ( memento from November 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) FTD.de, November 6, 2012
  48. ↑ Start of the Sal. Oppenheim process RP-online.de, February 27, 2013
  49. ↑ Press release from the Cologne Regional Court on the merging of the “Oppenheim-Esch” and “ADG / Arcandor” criminal proceedings justiz-online, April 26, 2013
  50. ^ Movement in the Sal. Oppenheim process RP Online, October 15, 2014
  51. ↑ a b Judgment in the Sal.Oppenheim trial , Manager-Magazin.de, July 9, 2015
  52. ↑ Press release of the Cologne Regional Court on the judgment in the so-called "Oppenheim proceedings" ( memento from January 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) justiz-online, July 15, 2015
  53. ↑ Chris Merting: Accusation of bribery: Public prosecutor investigates Esch and Schröder . In: Express . August 20, 2009
  54. ^ Indictment against Esch and Schröder Kölner Stadtanzeiger, June 24, 2014
  55. ^ Indictment against Esch and Schröder Kölnische Rundschau, June 26, 2014
  56. ↑ From visionaries and crooks - Esch, Schröder and the Cologne Bau-Bonanza Manager Magazin, September 19, 2017
  57. ↑ a b Trial of Infidelity , Kölnische Rundschau Online, October 12, 2016
  58. ↑ Video on Youtube and summary as PDF document
  59. ↑ Video on Youtube
  60. ↑ New tracks in the Cologne exhibition scandal , Finance & Market Opinions 23 June, 2008
  61. ↑ Video on Youtube
  62. ↑ Video on Youtube
  63. ↑ Karstadt documentation receives German Business Film Award ( Memento from October 11, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), dapd / themed portal, November 16, 2010, accessed on June 28, 2015
  64. ↑ Verena Mayer: Exciting and funny stories ( Memento from October 11, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), Stuttgarter-Nachrichten.de , November 17, 2010, interview with the jury chairman Stefan Schnorr.
  65. ^ Die story - prizes and awards 2010 , WDR.de, accessed on April 1, 2016.
  66. ↑ Video on Youtube
  67. ↑ Video on Youtube: Part 1 , 2 and 3
  68. ↑ Video at WDR1
personal data
SURNAME Esch, Josef
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Esch, Josef Antonius (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German building contractor
DATE OF BIRTH October 8, 1956
PLACE OF BIRTH Troisdorf