Eduard Lintner (born 4 November 1944 in Marktlangendorf, Sudetenland) is a German politician (CSU) and lobbyist. He served as a member of the German Bundestag from 1976 to 2009, as Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior from 1991 to 1998, and as the Federal Government's first Drug Enforcement Officer from 1992 to 1998. In the 2010s and 2020s, he became widely known for his involvement in the "Azerbaijani Laundromat" corruption scandal, for which he was convicted of bribery in 2025.
Early Life and Education
After graduating from school in Cham in 1966, Lintner studied jurisprudence at the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg. He passed the second state examination in 1973 and worked in the administration of the State of Bavaria until 1976, subsequently serving as a councilor in the Kitzingen district office. In 1981 he was admitted to the bar in Bad Neustadt.
Lintner joined the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the Junge Union (JU) in 1962. From 1970 to 1972 he was chairman of the JU district association for Würzburg and from 1972 to 1978 chairman of the JU district association of Lower Franconia.
Political Career
From 1972 to 1974 Lintner was a member of the municipal council of Erlabrunn. He was a member of the German Bundestag from 1976 to 2009. From 1982 to 1990 he served as chairman of the German Politics and Berlin Issues working group of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group.
Following the 1990 federal elections, Lintner was appointed Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of the Interior in the government of Chancellor Helmut Kohl on 24 January 1991. On 27 August 1992, he was additionally appointed the Federal Government's first drug commissioner. He left both offices on 26 October 1998 after the 1998 Bundestag elections.
In 1999 Lintner became a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the Western European Union. From 2002 to 2005 he was chairman of the Legal and Human Rights Committee of the Council of Europe. He also served as chairman of the Lower Franconia District Association of the Bavarian Red Cross until 2017.
After ceasing to run for the Bundestag in 2009, Lintner founded the "Society for the Promotion of German-Azerbaijani Relations" based in Berlin and became its sole managing partner.
Lobbying for Azerbaijan and Corruption Conviction
Lintner actively lobbied for the government of Azerbaijan, a country widely criticized for human rights violations and suppression of political opposition. He served on the board of trustees of the German-Azerbaijani Forum, a lobbying association described by the watchdog Lobbycontrol as a "dubious Azerbaijan network."
Bank records revealed that Lintner received multiple payments through a branch of Danske Bank in Estonia as part of the "Azerbaijani Laundromat" money-laundering scheme. According to a report by the European Stability Initiative, Lintner organized an election observation delegation for the 2013 Azerbaijani presidential elections, which published a positive assessment despite independent observers documenting extensive election fraud. Lintner stated the elections "met German standards." Two weeks later, he received €61,000 from Azerbaijan. His organization received a total of €819,500 from front companies between 2012 and 2014. Lintner in turn transferred large sums to pro-regime politicians in Germany and Belgium. These payments were also exposed through the Panama Papers.
In 2018, Lintner and fellow CDU politician Karin Strenz were banned from the Council of Europe and its parliamentary assembly for life due to the investigations.
In January 2024, German prosecutors brought bribery and corruption charges against Lintner and another former CDU member, Axel Fischer. On 30 July 2025, the Munich Higher Regional Court found Lintner guilty of bribery. The court considered it proven that between 2006 and 2008 Lintner received approximately €4 million from Azerbaijan using shell corporations, which he then passed on to other Parliamentary Assembly members. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended on probation due to his age (88 at the time of sentencing).
