SURVEY AFFAIR
This complex is probably the most well-known since the interrogation protocol was leaked. Schmid admits that the suspicions presented in the authority’s file are “essentially” correct. Accordingly, the idea for the so-called “Beinschab-Tool”, i.e. desired surveys published in the daily newspaper “Österreich” and paid for by the Ministry of Finance, was first discussed with Kurz during his time as Foreign Minister. Since Kurz was not yet party chairman at the time, it was clear that the surveys could only be financed through the Ministry of Finance.
In this case, Schmid not only burdens Kurz, but also his closest confidants. The then spokesman for the chancellor, Johannes Frischmann, and the former head of the communications department in the finance department, Johannes Pasquali, took on the implementation of the tool. Communications manager Gerald Fleischmann and Kurz consultant Stefan Steiner also knew about this.
TAX CAUSA WOLF
Schmid also declares his willingness to take responsibility for this cause. And here, too, the suspicion applies: According to this, the entrepreneur Sigfried Wolf is said to have intervened because of an additional tax payment. As a result of a large-scale audit, Wolf should have originally paid eleven million euros. After meetings with Wolf’s tax advisor at the Ministry of Finance, it finally turned into seven million. Wolf himself denies the allegations. More about Schmid’s statement is not yet known in this case.
TAX OFFICE BRAUNAU
This cause affects ÖVP club chairman August Wöginger, although Schmid should also be a burden on him. According to an extradition request by the WKStA, Wöginger, as a deputy at Schmid as the former head of cabinet of the Ministry of Finance, is to be responsible for the appointment of an Upper Austrian ÖVP mayor to the board of directors of the tax office for Braunau, Ried and Schärding intervened. In the publicly known interrogation protocol, Schmid states that this suspicion is also correct. But here, too, further details are missing for the time being.
SILVER STONE
The former ÖVP-EU mandate Paul Rübig is said to have incited Schmid to violate official secrecy in 2017 as Secretary General in the Ministry of Finance. It was about the allegations against the then SPÖ advisor Tal Silberstein. According to the WKStA, when Schmid was arrested in Israel, Rübig wanted to know from Schmid whether investigations were being carried out against Silberstein in Austria, although he was not authorized to request or receive such information. Rübig denies this, but according to Schmid these allegations are also true.
CASAG
The suspected deal within the turquoise-blue government in the gaming sector is also the namesake of the act, which also includes all other procedural complexes. The cause has been under investigation since June 2019. The accusation: According to an agreement between the ÖVP and the FPÖ, Peter Sidlo, who is close to the Freedom Party, was sent to the board of directors on a ticket from Casag co-owner Novomatic, although he is said to have been poorly qualified for this post.
According to his own statement, Schmid cannot contribute anything to this cause, even if he wants to “state fully” on this fact, as can be seen from the interrogation protocol that has become known. “But I don’t know of any FPÖ-Novomatic deal. I’m not aware of any criminal responsibility or criminal guilt in this context,” he says.
PARTY FUNDING AND ASSOCIATIONS
According to his own statement, Schmid has nothing to do personally with the suspected financing of parties via associations, but: “I will state fully what I know about it.” According to the interrogation protocol, the former Secretary General of Finance “only obtains his knowledge from second hand and can only say what I have heard”.
Source: Nachrichten
