Thorsten Kuntz, 51, is the managing director of Rheinmetall, the biggest German armaments production group: his tanks will be shipped to Ukraine. For intelligence he is a "keeper of secrets", and his absence is regarded a mystery: abduction or private matter?
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| Thorsten Kuntz |
A guy in Germany vanishes for four days without a trace.
And he returns after four days, utterly inebriated and plainly bewildered.
Chronicle of average alcoholism, except that it is not an ordinary individual. The protagonist of the drama that already interests the nation is Thorsten Kutz, 51, CEO of Rheinmetall , the biggest German military manufacturing business.
It is the same business that in recent weeks has promised the German government the availability of 88 Leopard 1 tanks and 100 Marder armored vehicles to transfer them to the Ukrainian army .
It was the Bild Zeitungto reveal the case, which began on May 13, when the police of Kassel, in the Land of Hesse, announced that they were looking for a man, in his fifties, who had not shown up for work , had missed all the private appointments foreseen that day and no longer answering his cell phone .
The commercial was backed by a picture, obtained from a video camera, showing Thorsten K. taking cash from an ATM .
Only last Sunday, a police vehicle tracked down the vanished near the Kassel Fair, inside a car, in a condition of drunkenness .
Kutz needed medical attention in a hospital.
It has not been established what led to his temporary disappearance at this time.
But the role of Kutz, who has led the German armaments giant since January 2022, gives rise to the widest variety of hypotheses: was he kidnapped to serve as a warning, or was it a purely private affair?
None of the parties involved in the investigation of the incident, including the Federal Prosecutor's Office, the BKA, the Federal Criminal Police Office, and Rheinmetall, were willing to make any statements.
The federal intelligence community considers Kutz to be a "secret holder," but it is unknown whether or not the state is obligated to provide him with protection in this capacity.
Just the other day, the German government announced that it is prepared to switch out the 15 Rheinmetall Leopard 1 tanks that were sold to the Czech Republic for 15 Rheinmetall Leopard 2 tanks that will be sold to Ukraine.