The trial against Grasser and his former tax advisor begins in the Vienna Criminal Court. For the time being, eight days of negotiations are planned.
The accusation by the Office of the Public Prosecutor for Economic Affairs and Corruption (WKStA) weighs heavily: It is about the suspicion of tax evasion in the case of sales commissions from Meinl Power Management (MPM), in which Grasser worked as a manager and was also involved after his tenure as finance minister. This company, based on the Channel Island of Jersey, was the management company of Meinl International Power (MIP), which was part of the Meinl business empire.
The accusation of the WKStA is: Grasser did not state commissions from his work for the MPM in his income tax return – and paid too few taxes. According to the indictment, it is about 2.2 million euros. The range of penalties includes a fine of up to twice as much. A prison sentence of up to two years can also be imposed. Grasser’s former tax advisor is accused of creating a cover-up construction.
Grasser denies the allegations. He says he fully relied on his advisor. The latter, in turn, states that Grasser changed the construction on his own. In its approximately 100-page indictment, the WKStA writes that both had endeavored to “play down their own responsibility and shift it onto the other side”. Only two years after his entry and protests from shareholders, Grasser withdrew from the Meinl empire.
“Tax dilettante”?
The indictment also states that Grasser presented himself to the WKStA as a “tax dilettante”, which investigators did not believe. Rather, the ex-politician has “above-average knowledge of tax law” and bases it on his business studies, his diploma thesis and his seven years as finance minister. Grasser, in turn, stated that he “didn’t even read the majority of the relevant documents, but signed them without thinking.”
From Monday, Grasser will meet familiar faces in the Vienna Criminal Court: the two chief public prosecutors Gerald Denk and Alexander Marchart, who already represented the prosecution in the Buwog trial, and again Grasser’s lawyer Norbert Wess. Judge Michael Tolstiuk, who has led several large business cases in recent years, such as the Telekom Austria processes, will preside over the hearing.
Source: Nachrichten
