Karatbars, Harald Seiz, the Handelsblatt, Data Protection and A Criminal Complaint

STUTTGART, GERMANY – NEWSAKTUELL – 4 August 2020 – Data protection is, as every citizen knows, a term that originated in the second half of the 20th century. Depending on the point of view, data protection is understood as protection against improper data processing, protection of the right to informational self-determination, protection of personal rights in data processing and above all protection of privacy.

Harald Seiz, Managing Director of Karatbars International GmbH. 

Editorial use of this picture is free of charge. Please quote the source: “obs/Karatbars International GmbH”​

In the recent past, there have been cases of data protection abuse, the unauthorized access to police computers by third parties. The “piercing” of information from internal systems of police authorities to journalists, or unauthorized third parties, is a punishable offence, regulated by the laws and regulations of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Harald Seiz, Managing Director of Karatbars International GmbH, filed a criminal complaint and a criminal complaint with the German public prosecutor’s office in Stuttgart on 15 July 2020 against two editors and the editor-in-chief of the “Handelsblatt” on suspicion of incitement to violate official secrecy and a special duty of confidentiality, in accordance with Section 353b and Section 26 of the German Criminal Code (StGB) and a possible violation of the State Data Protection Act of Baden-Wuerttemberg (Germany), for all offences under consideration. The case number of the public prosecutor’s office in Stuttgart is Js 71420/20.

Proof is an audio recording, which is 1 hour 16 minutes 43 seconds long, additionally a transcription of the interview (pages 6, 11, 12, 13) as well as witness statements of those present at an interview, conducted on November 7, 2019, by editors of the “Handelsblatt” with Harald Seiz.

In the audio recording, which according to Mr. Seiz was approved by editors of the “Handelsblatt”, it is recorded that Mr. J.B. and Mr. L.M.N. were the third parties to verbally request data – this according to Mr. Harald Seiz, contrary to applicable laws, here via the police information system POLIS.

If such personal data or secret information is passed on to third parties, this may, in addition to a breach of the obligation of official secrecy, constitute a criminal offence under Section 353 b StGB / Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany (breach of official secrecy and special obligation of secrecy), Section 203 StGB (breach of private secrets) and the State Data Protection Act of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

The writers of the “Handelsblatt” have not mentioned in earlier articles that Harald Seiz has a currently available police clearance certificate from the Ministry of the Interior of the Federal Republic of Germany, in which no conviction is evident in any way. The certificate of good conduct (Germany, formerly the police certificate of good conduct or the certificate of integrity), unofficially also known as a character reference, also known as a “criminal record certificate” in EU usage, is an official certificate of a person’s previously registered criminal record. If the criminal record certificate has no entry, the person must be considered to have a clean record!

If journalists have obtained information from a police computer, contrary to current laws, this is a punishable offence and could bring the German media landscape into considerable discredit. Within the framework of the European Union, Article 48(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights guarantees: “Everyone charged with a crime shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law”.

Nevertheless, the accusations against the editors of what is actually the “Handelsblatt” and their editor-in-chief are still pending. In this context, the earlier reporting of the “Handelsblatt”, in relation to Karatbars, its KBC Coin (KaratGold Coin) and Harald Seiz, should be noted. The “Handelsblatt” also demonstrably advertised in the media for an ex-developer of Karatbars, this on 03.04. 2019 and on 29.04. 2020, the latter, however, still during an ongoing trial at the public prosecutor’s office in Mainz against the ex-developer.

Karatbars is currently conducting a legal investigation to determine whether this reporting by the renowned “Handelsblatt complies with the press code and its regulations, or could even have had an influence on the ex-developer’s proceedings.

The criminal record certificate is available at: https://www.presseportal.de/en/pm/146903/4669612