After the request by the district attorney's office in Hanover to lift Wulff's immunity had been leaked to the press, there were media reports that the prosecutors had questioned Wulff's explanation that he reimbursed Groenwold in cash when checking out of the hotel in Sylt in August 2008. The investigations showed no corresponding withdrawals on Wulff's bank account that would back up his claim. In view of Wulff's negative account balance leading up to the Sylt vacation, prosecutors deemed the possibility that Wulff had kept a cash gift from December 2007 until August 2008 as "economically unwise".
