The group leader of the business and corruption prosecutor’s office, Bernhard Weratschnig, who was invited to the ÖVP corruption investigation committee on Wednesday, renewed the criticism he had already voiced in the Ibiza investigation committee about influencing investigations. In addition, he had something new to report in one or the other case. For example, to the displeasure of the Finanzprokuratur, its President Wolfgang Peschorn was investigated because of the late delivery of files to the Ibiza U Committee.
Specifically, it is about investigations by the WKStA against the former Finance Minister Gernot Blümel (ÖVP), who is suspected of abuse of office because of the delayed delivery of files. He asked Peschorn, as President of the Finanzprokuratur, to mediate with the U-Committee, which is why it is listed as a possible contributor. There is currently a project report on the case in the Ministry of Justice.
The WKStA also looks at the Kloibmüller chats that the former politician Peter Pilz handed over to the U-Committee during his questioning, Weratschnig revealed. The data would be checked to see if they constitute evidence. However, these would only be included in the file if they are relevant to the cause.
Weratschnig also had a detail about the investigations into the survey cause around the pollsters Sophie Karmasin and Sabine Beinschab. So you have tried to get an interview appointment with the former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP), against whom is also being determined. However, this did not come about. According to his defense attorney, Kurz first wanted to “wait for the results of the evidence” and then comment.
Weratschnig had previously renewed his criticism of dealing with his authority. But there have also been improvements. For example, the change in service and technical supervision, which is now the responsibility of a senior public prosecutor in Innsbruck, means that efficient work is possible again. In addition, the reporting obligation has been reduced. An increase in human resources would also be necessary for Weratschnig.
One of the negative highlights of the cross-shots against the WKStA was the public chat between Christian Pilnacek, who has since been suspended, and the head of the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office, Johann Fuchs, in which he called for corruption prosecutors to be observed as part of official and specialist supervision. He once again criticized file leaks. These are never in the interest of the WKStA and would also be punishable. ÖVP MP Christian Stocker wanted to know from Weratschnig whether he had any perceptions of direct political influence, which the public prosecutor denied: “No, not from my perspective”. However, the evaluation of the chats would show that something like this does not run directly, argued Weratschnig.
After Weratschnig, a former cabinet employee and now group leader in the Ministry of Finance, who had been the main contact for ex-Secretary General Thomas Schmid in the tax case involving investor Siegfried Wolf, had his say. Schmid wrote to him: “Don’t forget, you’re hacking in an ÖVP cabinet! You’re the whore for you rich!” Right at the beginning he announced that the WKStA had ordered his documents to be secured and that there was a risk of criminal prosecution.
Regarding the notorious message from his then boss, the official said when asked by the ÖVP faction that Schmid’s choice of words was “often completely inappropriate and inappropriate”, which had also become clear through the chats that had become public. “I never took it seriously,” said the informant, who “acknowledged the teller with sarcasm.” Regarding the Wolfs tax matter himself, the man confirmed that he had been entrusted with it in 2016. People with such concerns have repeatedly turned to the ministry.
The result of the large-scale audit, that Wolf had to pay eleven million euros in back taxes, was what he shared at the time, the group leader recalled about this “legal question”. At a meeting with Wolf’s tax advisor, who had a different opinion, he communicated it that way. He was unable to answer why the final payment was only seven million euros, since he was not present at the final meeting.
The respondent was also involved in the survey cause on the sidelines and “in a professional way”. According to his own statements, he was in contact with opinion researcher Beinschab in connection with a study on combating fraud and tax avoidance. Ultimately, however, he had nothing to do with the billing, he reported.
Meanwhile, the second President of the National Council, Doris Bures (SPÖ), who chaired last Thursday, rejected criticism of the ÖVP’s leadership. ÖVP faction leader Andreas Hanger had criticized Wednesday morning that Bures had not kept to the rules of procedure. According to Hanger, Bures “allowed evidence that was not lawfully obtained” with the Kloibmüller chats presented by Peter Pilz last week. She also had the classification of a document voted on, the content of which was largely unknown.
Bures’ office then said that the “essential guideline of the second President of the National Council” was to act strictly in accordance with the law and the rules of procedure when chairing the sub-committee. The Second President of the National Council is therefore not available for party-political disputes in her function as U-Committee Chair.
Source: Nachrichten
