Ten suspects are named, including the Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP), the former general secretary and ex-ÖBAG boss Thomas Schmid and “Austria” editor Wolfgang Fellner.
The investigators also focus on:
- the former Family Minister Sophie Karmasin
- Chancellor Spokesman Johannes Frischmann
- Media officer Gerald Fleischmann
- ÖVP consultant Stefan Steiner
- Ministry of Finance spokesman Johannes Pasquali
- Poll researcher Sabine Beinschab
- and Helmuth Fellner
Suspects also VP and “Austria”
According to the Association Responsibility Act (VbVG), the ÖVP and the Austrian Media Group are also listed as suspects. The turquoise federal party should – at least according to the WKStA’s suspicion – be responsible for crimes that are said to have been committed in their favor within the meaning of this law.
Essentially, the allegations are about the time before the ÖVP’s internal takeover of power by Kurz in 2017. At that time, Reinhold Mitterlehner was still head of the People’s Party. For example, according to the investigators, surveys in the interests of Kurz and his environment were billed by bogus invoices as services for studies by the Ministry of Finance, that is, the Ministry of Finance paid for surveys from official funds for the “(party) political advancement” Kurz. The investigators deduce the offense of infidelity from this.
Cooperation with Fellner Group?
In addition, the public prosecutor’s office for business and corruption suspects that the actors from the turquoise environment in the Ministry of Finance concluded “several advertising and media cooperation agreements with media of the Fellner Group” from around April 2016, to the benefit of Kurz. According to the WKStA, it is not only about embellished survey results, but also about “comments by Wolfgang Fellner or other actors that promote the interests of Sebastian Kurz and the group of his confidants”. The total cost of the advertisements, which would have had no relation to the activities of the Ministry of Finance, should have exceeded one million. This should meet the requirements of bribery and corruptibility.
Kurz personally accuses the WKStA of having commissioned then General Secretary Schmid with the organization and negotiations as well as with the cooperation with the media group and having received regular reports. Furthermore, the Chancellor is said to have persuaded the former Minister Karmasin to participate in acts by commissioning individual issues and working towards their publication. However, these served “exclusively party political purposes”.
Chats with Schmid as evidence
In order to prove that Kurz himself was supposed to have known about the plans, the public prosecutor’s office refers to a chat between him and Schmid on March 15, 2016. Schmid was therefore not sure whether Karmasin was there, whereupon Kurz wrote: “I can go with you you talk? ” Schmid replies: “Yes, please! She is so pissed off about Mitterlehner because he stabbed her in the back. I’ve spoken to her for 3 hours now. And spindi (nickname of ex-ÖVP boss and Kurz sponsor Michael Spindelegger, note. ) on her. If you tell her that the world will not end now. And that (sic!) Mitterlehner was just an ass (sic!), etc. That sure helps. ” “I’ll make it fit,” is Kurz’s answer.
The public prosecutor also believes, based on chat logs, that there were already “agreements” between Schmid and the Fellners in April 2016 and quotes the following message from Schmid to Wolfgang Fellner: “Dear Mr. Fellner! Part of the agreement with your brother. I am I’m excited to see how the Schelling budget will be reported to you tomorrow. LG Thomas “. The public prosecutor’s office also refers to a message from press spokesman Frischmann to Schmid on June 27, 2016: “Fellner has not kept any agreement. (…)” Schmid then complains to Karmasin about the “breach of trust” and to the Fellners about the “Real cheek” – Fellner is said to have given himself “insight”, as the public prosecutor puts it. A few days later, Frischmann reported that a double-page advertisement was placed twice in the newspaper for a total of 116,000 euros net.
“Got really cool news!”
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the cooperation was further expanded, in September 2016 Schmid wrote to Kurz: “Have really cool news! All political research in Austria will now go to the leg scraper. This means we have surveys and co. In the sense discussed :-))”.
In January 2017, Frischmann wrote to Schmid that he had “told B. what she should say in the interview”. “I’ve never gone as far as we have”, says Schmid happily, “brilliant investment”. Schmid adds: “And Fellner is a capitalist. Whoever pays up. I love that.”
The WKStA had requested the house searches on September 23, as can be seen from the order. It was approved on September 29 by the judge who conducted the interrogation of Kurz at the beginning of the month. The WKStA became aware of the approval on October 4th. On September 28, ÖVP Vice General Secretary Gabriela Schwarz complained in a press conference about journalists’ inquiries about house searches in her party headquarters and demanded clarification from the “responsible authorities”.
