The World - News from Aug. 18, 1985

Hundreds of West German politicians, including Cabinet ministers have been implicated in a campaign donation-laundering scheme involving insurance companies seeking government favors, the weekly news magazine Der Spiegel reported. The Working Group of Private Insurers admitted in a statement that contributions had been made to politicians but said they were legal. Among the recipients named by Der Spiegel were Labor and Social Affairs Minister Norbert Bluem and Inner-German Affairs Minister Heinrich Windelen. A spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office said an investigation has been launched of “various groupings in the insurance industry.”