The District Court of Munich I has found the star chef Alfons Schuhbeck guilty of tax evasion in a widely publicized ruling. He is said to have hired an employee to manipulate cash programs so that he could withdraw funds untaxed. This tax offense may be related to high losses and loan debts of the celebrity chef. At least he gave this as his motive. In the meantime, his holding company has taken the path to insolvency. Now also a prison sentence of three years and two months without probation on Alfons Schuhbeck. In order to review the verdict, which he accepts in principle, Alfons Schuhbeck had submitted a request for revision. However, the BGH confirmed the judgment in large parts. The complained part for the asset recovery thus lands again at the district court. Only after this decision must Alfons Schuhbeck begin his prison term.

If you are familiar with top German gastronomy, the name Alfons Schuhbeck is also familiar. In addition to Eckart Witzigmann, Heinz Winkler and Hans Haas in the legendary Tantris, Alfons Schuhbeck is one of the really well-known top chefs who have swung their cooking spoons in Munich. But even in the media Alfons Schuhbeck was as prominent in the spotlight as few other cooks in Germany. In addition to cookbooks, his appearances in cooking shows and shows on German television were very numerous and popular. But even as an entrepreneur, Alfons Schuhbeck seemed to be successful for a long time. In addition to several restaurants, which we will discuss later, he also owned a spice shop, an Eissalon and a noble catering shop as well as a cooking school.

And now the name Alfons Schuhbeck is related to tax evasion. How did this happen?

Headlines of a very different kind are now seeking to cook up his gastronomic heritage. On 27.10.2022, the District Court of Munich I ruled in a multi-day trial accompanied by media interest that Alfons Schuhbeck committed tax evasion. And to a considerable extent. Thus, about EUR 2,300,000 in taxes should have escaped the Treasury. The share attributable to income tax alone amounts to EUR 1,200,000. The process focuses on two restaurants, the South Tyrolean Stuben and Orlando. What happened there?

In short: cash manipulation. According to the court, it should be about 1,000 missing bills. During the tax investigation of 1,100 daily invoices for the period 2009 to 2016, only 6% were without complaint. In this way, about EUR 5.000.000 have probably disappeared from the coffers for years. In order to make such a massive intervention in the funds, Alfons Schuhbeck had asked an employee to implement a special software program. This employee had now been charged with aiding tax evasion alongside Alfons Schuhbeck.

It is unclear why the tax investigation in June 2019 saw reason to search the business premises of his companies. This may be due to the fact that up to 2015 some of its companies were making losses while others were making significant profits. This could have represented a suspicion for the tax investigation. It was certainly not helpful that Alfons Schuhbeck made only insufficient annual reports. More on that in a moment.

To understand the situation a little better, let’s take a brief look at Mr. Schuhbeck’s corporate structures as well as their recent developments.

Under the umbrella of Schubecks’s Holding GmbH & Co. KG, there were many operating companies until mid-July 2021. These included Schuhbeck’s Kochschule GmbH, Schuhbeck’s Internet GmbH and Schuhbeck’s Orlando GmbH. Due to business difficulties, Alfons Schuhbeck filed for bankruptcy at this time. He justified this by saying that, on the one hand, the Corona pandemic had massively affected business, but on the other hand, his companies had not received any state aid. However, we will deal with the latter point separately.

After a few weeks in the autumn of 2021, there were surprising investors who promoted the continuation of some companies in line with Alfons Schuhbeck. The merger of the remaining operating companies resulted in the creation of Schuhbeck Company GmbH. It also includes the cooking school, the spice trade and the restaurant of South Tyrolean Stuben.

The conditions required for granting state aid to Corona include the availability of up-to-date annual reports. For the application for Corona help, an examination of current annual reports is planned. Apparently, this was currently impossible due to the lack of annual reports since 2016. It is therefore also understandable why there has been no state aid for Mr Schuhbeck's catering businesses, which were particularly affected by the Corona pandemic. But whether this is in a causal connection with the tax evasion by Alfons Schuhbeck and the further tax investigation, is unclear.

Immediately after the sentencing, the suspended employee of Mr. Schuhbeck accepted the verdict. Since the public prosecutor’s office also agreed to this, the judgment is now legally binding for the employee. Alfons Schuhbeck left at the time of the verdict, however, for the time being open, whether for him a revision in question.

After Alfons Schuhbeck had initially denied that there had been irregularities and thus tax evasion in the accounting, he had gradually admitted in the course of the process that he had committed tax evasion. He said he did this because of the high debt. He also expressed remorse and showed willingness to pay the blame. However, he claimed until the last that the level of tax evasion charged to him was well above the actual circumstances. Therefore, he asked the court to take this into account in the judgment. However, according to his own statement, he lacks the documents with which he could prove the true scope. Therefore, the District Court of Munich I only had to pronounce a prison sentence of three years and two months without probation.

Later, Alfons Schuhbeck decided to appeal the verdict. He instructed his lawyers to file a complaint on the last day of the deadline. According to a spokesperson, he is less concerned with contesting the judgment than with having the written explanation of the judgment reviewed.

In the meantime, the Federal Court of Justice has examined the judgment of the Landgericht and confirmed it in almost all points, including the penalty. Only for the asset absorption, the BGH sees still need for improvement. This correction is now made again at the Munich Regional Court. Only when this aspect is also clarified, Alfons Schuhbeck should begin his prison sentence.

So as it currently looks, Alfons Schuhbeck will serve his prison term in the near future. From the end of August 2023. Thus, Alfons Schuhbeck follows his friend Uli Hoeneß, also convicted of tax evasion, to the same prison where he had already served his prison sentence.

Further consequences for Alfons Schuhbeck are the closures of his two restaurants in Munich. For the prominence of the Bavarian state capital, this is certainly a loss. However, his business with the spice trade still remains. And in his cooking school he has also already lectured (probably about lovage, sorrel and maize). For Alfons Schuhbeck important are certainly also the cancellations of several TV stations to the top cook. For some time now and certainly in the future, they no longer want to produce or broadcast cooking shows with him. This also entails a clear cut in his media presence, which he has to cope with both financially and personally. For many viewers, more than an interchangeable cooking utensil will be missing in the German television landscape. Therefore, we wonder if we now lose a certain Bajuwar note in the cooking programmes. Will we miss them?

But if the fate of Alfonso Schubeck approaches, and if you believe that the prison sentence is perhaps a bit harsh, you should bear in mind that the Maître has already endured completely different punishments. At this point, we recall that Alfons Schuhbeck once tried Hákarl, fermented Greenland shark, on Iceland in a TV show. For him, this could have been the harshest punishment of his life. What has been behind bars for three years and a few months?