The damage from corruption and treason is not reducible to finances and is not explained away by alleged financial gains for Germany. First of all, on the purely financial front, Schröder’s corrupt actions damaged his own domestic financial allies, to the tune of record fines, in addition to promoting long-term trade war with the U.S., which is not in Germany’s financial interests, so the financial benefits of his actions for Germany were a mixed bag at best. Beyond finances, he damaged Germany’s relations with the U.S. and NATO and increased tensions between the West and Russia, which is in no one’s best interests. Furthermore, a corrupt politician who can be bought by one country can be bought by anyone else, eroding a nation’s legal structure as well as its security—Germany’s social disintegration under government-supported Muslim migration, promoted by corrupt politicians who have been bribed by foreign lobbying groups and globalists, is a case in point. And Merkel, beyond being a globalist communist, supported Nord Stream after campaigning against it and has gone back and forth on this, so her protests against Schröder should be taken accordingly—she points to a thief as she makes off with the loot.
You can dig a lot of dirt on everyone in high office. The economy always would be the highest priority. I believe Schroeder was overall positive figure.