The Chairman of Airbus (a European consortium) at the time of the contract competition was Franz Josef Strauss (1915–1988), a high-profile German politician in Bavaria.
Mulroney claims that this money was paid to him for consulting services he rendered to help promote a fresh pasta business, and to develop international contacts for Schreiber.
Mulroney had previously not admitted accepting any commissions from Schreiber during his lawsuit against the Canadian government, and later under oath specifically denied any business dealings with him.
Mulroney did not provide evidence of any work he performed for that money, and declared it as income to Revenue Canada only years later, when Schreiber had come under criminal investigation in Germany.
In 2004, Kaplan clarified his position in a further book, A Secret Trial, by criticizing Cameron for her role as a confidential RCMP informant on the Airbus matter, and Mulroney for not disclosing the fact that he had received the $300,000 from Schreiber.
On February 8, 2006, Schreiber stated in a Fifth Estate interview that the money from the "BRITAN" account came at the request of a Mulroney aide, who told him the former prime minister was short of funds.
The Globe and Mail reported on November 1, 2007, that Mulroney, who had by his own admission received $75,000 of Schreiber's stated $300,000 in cash in New York City in December 1994, should have declared those funds when he crossed the border into Canada several days later, if he had not already spent the money.
The story quoted retired RCMP inspector Bruce Bowie, who played a role in preparing the original Canadian legislation requiring large cash transactions to be reported, which was passed during Mulroney's term.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that a third-party independent inquiry would be launched to review the dealings between Schreiber and Mulroney, to be headed by David Lloyd Johnston, president of the University of Waterloo.
In June 2008, the government established the "Commission of Inquiry into Certain Allegations Respecting Business and Financial Dealings Between Karlheinz Schreiber and the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney".
Minister of Justice Rob Nicholson promised to delay the extradition until at least December 1, 2007, to allow potential appeals to be filed by Schreiber's lawyer Edward Greenspan.
This was in accordance with a Canada Revenue Agency amnesty incentive, now discontinued, that was intended to encourage delinquent taxpayers to submit late declarations, thus garnering funds which would otherwise have been lost or, at minimum, require costly legal action to be collected.
The following weekend Schreiber, after a last-ditch effort to find another means of avoiding extradition, was ordered to appear at the Toronto Detention Centre pending his return to Germany.