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Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl has agreed to pay a stiff fine to end a criminal fraud probe against him over secret cash donations he accepted while in power. Though his reputation as a major European statesman has already been tarnished by a scandal that plunged his opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) into crisis, it keeps Kohl from facing trial and a criminal record. Kohl’s Essen-based lawyer firm Holthoff-Pfoertner said in a statement Kohl had agreed to an offer by public prosecutors in Bonn under which they would drop a 13- month criminal inquiry in return for a 300,000 mark fine. The size of the sanction is indicative of a substantial wrongdoing, said Hans- Christian Stroebele, a Green party member of a separate parliamentary probe into whether the donations constituted bribes, a charge Kohl vigorously denies. While Kohl admits to having broken party funding rules by accepting $1 million of payments from anonymous donors during the 1990s, he rejects allegations that he was open to bribery and that he defrauded his party. In opposition since current Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his Social Democratic Party ousted Kohl in 1998 after 16 years of rule, they are still dogged by the aftermath of the affair. The scandal sent their poll ratings into free fall and claimed the political career of Kohl’s anointed successor as party chief over irregularities concerning a much smaller sum. Yet Again, another political scandal accept this one doesn’t involve sex and is in Germany. So many politicians have been corrupted by big money just to be elected. To me, this is silly. We as a people weather in Germany or America should choose our officials on merit, not on wealth. We should look beyond the glitz of the commercials to the true facts. If this world chose incorruptible leaders, we would not have as many problems as we do today. Word Count: 312

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