Karlheinz Schreiber came up with an amusing statement just before he was bundled aboard an aircraft to be deported to Germany to face trial there:
"During his brief, rambling interview outside the courthouse, Mr. Schreiber complained about the inquiry's exclusion of anything related to the Airbus sale. “The elephant is still in the room,” he said, adding that the Oliphant inquiry looked at only “a small piece.” Mr. Justice Jeffrey Oliphant, who chaired the inquiry, has until Dec. 31 to issue his report."
Schreiber is right, and there is one possibility that any Canadian politician or official who might have taken a bribe or two from this man in relation to the sale to Air Canada of the Airbus planes, should consider: If hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, then what fury might a convicted briber have if all the chips are down, and he is now bargaining for a reduction in jail term in Germany?
If Schreiber has a day in court in Germany, and has a chance to plea bargain, what information about the recipients of Airbus-related fees would he be prepared to trade in return for a more lenient sentence?
That, I believe, is the elephant Karlheinz was referring to.
And remember: Schreiber is seated atop that elephant, steering it …
So don't put away the popcorn yet.
Things could still get more interesting for some Canadians with reason to fear full disclosure of the Airbus saga.
After all, this is the man who brought down many a foreign politician:
"It's been almost a decade since Mr. Schreiber was arrested at a Toronto hotel at the request of Germany, where he ignited a scandal that ruined political careers and sent others to jail. The professional middleman, who has brokered deals for tanks, helicopters and airplanes around the world – Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Canada – dominated headlines and newscasts in the German media in the 1990s when it was revealed that he made payments, sometimes in cash, to high-profile German political figures. Former German junior defence minister, Ludwig-Holger Pfahls, fled the country over payments he accepted from Mr. Schreiber, but was arrested in Paris and later convicted. When it emerged that Mr. Schreiber handed a briefcase containing more than one million deutschmarks to the treasurer of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl's party, it exposed secret slush funds designated for the ruling Christian Democratic Union."
Keep an eye out for that elephant.
