The public prosecutor’s office for business and corruption has applied for ten charges in the proceedings for donations to the school project association headed by the former planning spokesman for the Wiener Grünen, Christoph Chorherr. That reported the “press”.
In addition to the canon himself, real estate investors are also to be charged according to the project report submitted to the senior public prosecutor.
Christoph Chorherr (his father was the long-time “Presse” editor-in-chief Thomas Chorherr) is a prominent green figure. From 1991 to 1996 he was the first non-executive councilor of the Greens in Vienna. From March 1996 to December 1997 he was the party’s national spokesman, and from 1997 to 2004 club chairman of the Wiener Grünen. In September 2019 he resigned from the green party after the Federal Anti-Corruption Office started investigations against him on the basis of an anonymous complaint.
Real estate entrepreneurs donated
The cause, which has been causing a stir in political circles in Vienna for a long time, revolves around donations from real estate entrepreneurs to the “s2arch” association run by Chorherr; this was founded in 2004 and is dedicated to various school and educational initiatives in South Africa.
There was suspicion in the room that donations were being made for dedications in Vienna. The investigation was on suspicion of abuse of office, corruption and bribery. Canon always denied that payments influenced his political activities.
Application for diversion made
He recently applied for diversion. In it he acknowledged that his activity as a public official at the same time as his club chairmanship had been a mistake due to the donations made to the club.
With the diversion, he would save himself the criminal proceedings in exchange for an “onerous measure” such as the payment of a sum of money or the rendering of a charitable service.
The Freedom Party suspect a “red-green corruption case”. After the diversion proposal became known, Vienna’s FP boss Dominik Nepp said, “You donate, I dedicate” was obviously the motto of the former Green politician. “There is reason to suspect that the donors – in this case apparently property developers with excellent contacts to red Vienna – are trying to avoid legal proceedings with a diversion.”
