Is Karl-Erivan Haub alive after all? Tengelmann heir allegedly spotted alive
New images from Moscow shed a spectacular light on the case of Karl-Erivan Haub: the Tengelmann heir was considered missing since 2018 and was declared dead in 2021 - but now experts have identified him with a high degree of probability on Russian surveillance images.
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- Two surveillance videos from Moscow presumably show Karl-Erivan Haub, who disappeared in 2018.
- One expert opinion speaks of a 99 percent match, a second of 85 percent.
- Research suggests that his brother Christian Haub obtained the photos himself - and paid millions for them.
Tengelmann boss Karl-Erivan Haub, who has been missing since 2018, is once again puzzling the public. Although the billionaire was officially declared dead in 2021, two surveillance photos from Moscow have now emerged that are said to show him years after his disappearance.
As reported by Manager Magazin, the images show a man in a blue woolly hat who bears a striking resemblance to the former Tengelmann CEO. The images were allegedly taken on February 19 and 20, 2021, three years after Haub's presumed death during a ski tour on the Matterhorn.
Brother comes under pressure
According to RTL research, Christian Haub, the brother of the missing man, is said to have commissioned the search for such footage and paid over one million euros for it. At the same time, he had sworn in 2021 that he had no evidence of his brother's possible survival - the basis for the judicial declaration of death by the Cologne district court.
Christian Haub's lawyer, Mark Binz, initially denied that Haub knew about the pictures. He has since stated that his client has "seen the pictures in the meantime", but is "certain that they do not show his brother".
Expert reports with a high level of agreement
However, two independent expert opinions from the security company Interfor support the authenticity of the images: One expert identified Karl-Erivan Haub with 99 percent certainty, while a second expert opinion still comes to 85 percent agreement.
The public prosecutor's office in Cologne currently sees no reason to revoke the declaration of death - despite the new evidence.
Traces to Russia - and to the secret service?
Shortly after the disappearance, there were rumors of connections to Russia. According to RTL journalist Liv von Boetticher, the first clues led in this direction as early as 2018.
Particularly explosive: at the time of his disappearance, Haub is said to have had a mistress who maintained contacts with the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB.
Haub worked on several projects in Russia and was a regular visitor to the country - fueling speculation about a possible controlled disappearance.
The Tengelmann Group, led by Christian Haub following the disappearance of the patriarch, had only recently reorganized itself and moved its headquarters to Munich.
