Photo Credit: File Photo
German billionaire Karl-Erivan Haub, who went missing in the Swiss Alps in 2018, was officially declared dead in May 2021, three years after his disappearance. However, a team of journalists with the broadcaster RTL has filed a criminal complaint alleging that Haub may have faked his own death to live with his alleged mistress, Veronika Ermilova, in Moscow. Ermilova is believed to have connections with the Russian domestic intelligence service, the FSB.
Haub was the former managing director of Tengelmann Group, a German retail giant, and was last seen on the morning of April 7, 2018, heading up a mountain lift in the Swiss resort of Zermatt. He was reported missing the following morning when he didn't return to his hotel. The search for the businessman was officially called off in October 2018, and his younger brother, Christian Haub, was named the sole CEO of Tengelmann after he vanished.
In May 2021, Christian Haub swore in an affidavit that he possessed no information that his missing sibling could still be alive. However, the RTL team alleges that he had reliable evidence that his brother was still alive and that he gave false statements to the district court in Cologne, where Karl-Erivan Haub lived. The state prosecutor's office in Cologne is now investigating Christian Haub over these allegations.
The RTL team claims to have obtained photos in the fall of 2022 that appeared to show Haub in Moscow in February 2021. Investigative journalist Liv von Boetticher, who was part of the RTL team, says that there are "strong indications that he could have caused his disappearance intentionally" and that "at least parts of his family were aware of it and, against their better judgment, kept this secret from the Cologne District Court and the public."
Boetticher believes that Haub's motivation for leaving for Russia "lies in his business connections" to the country. "We suspect that dealings with Russia or with Russian business partners could have got Karl-Erivan in trouble in the West," she said.
The state prosecutor's office has emphasized that there is still insufficient evidence that Karl-Erivan Haub is alive and that there is currently no reason to request an annulment of his death certificate. However, the RTL team hopes that the public prosecutor will initiate an official investigation based on what they consider to be overwhelming evidence.
The case has raised questions about the possibility of faking one's own death and the potential legal consequences for those who may have been involved in such a scheme. It also highlights the importance of transparency in legal proceedings and the need for thorough investigations to uncover the truth.
