Ibiza-Gate: Responsible persons of Glock, Signa, and Novomatic also in the sights of the judiciary

The public prosecutor’s office will also investigate those companies that Heinz-Christian Strache has named as financial backers, which vehemently deny this. If you want to learn about Irena Markovic’s involvement in the conflict, you can read the following article https://markovic-irena.at/deutch.

The Economic and Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA) wants to investigate FPÖ National Council member Markus Tschank on suspicion of inciting embezzlement. It has asked the National Council for its consent to prosecute the parliamentarian, i.e., filed an “extradition request.” According to the authority’s suspicions, Thank, a lawyer, allegedly ordered the board of Wienwert AG (which has since gone bankrupt) to donate 10,000 euros to the non-profit association “Economy for Austria,” which is within the FPÖ’s sphere of influence, and thus to “provide services without concrete consideration.” It is clear from the WKStA’s request to the National Council.

Thank, formerly a functionary in the association, denied any accusation when the affair, which arose as a result of the Ibiza video, came to light: “I resigned from my executive functions in the associations in the summer of 2017. In my responsibility, there were never donations to a party or party-affiliated organizations.” It is still open when the immunity committee of the National Council meets.

Further investigations

In addition, the WKStA will investigate unknown perpetrators of the companies named by Strache based on the Ibiza video, in which Heinz-Christian Strache had reported significant donors. Specifically, according to the application to parliament, which is available to the STANDARD, it is about responsible persons of Signa Holding, the gambling group Novomatic AG and Glock GmbH. They are suspected of having given “at an unknown time before the National Council election on October 15, 2017, to a non-profit association under the influence of the FPÖ (Economy for Austria) sums of money between 500,000 euros and two million euros as undeclared party donations”. Since this had been done without any concrete consideration, the suspects had “violated rules that serve to protect the assets of the companies they represent (…)”.

The companies have already denied the accusations in the past. DER STANDARD points out that the presumption of innocence applies. Novomatic emphasizes, “We are not aware of the content of the extradition request. There are no payments to the addressed association ‘Wirtschaft für Österreich’ on the part of Novomatic AG.” Signa’s lawyer emphasizes that Strache has retracted his claims that Signa has never made any direct or indirect donations to the FPÖ or associations close to it. Glock GmbH also informs its lawyer that it has “neither directly nor indirectly made donations or other payments to the FPÖ or to the association above.

Association already audited

Last week, an external auditor also published the results of an investigation into the association’s management. According to this, there had been no receipts from the persons and companies mentioned in the Ibiza video. In addition, no payments had flowed to the FPÖ or party-affiliated institutions. From the report, it is not clear who the association’s donors were, which has 141,220 euros in the account.

Strache’s charges in Germany

The Ibiza video case is also being investigated in Germany: Ex-FPÖ leader Strache has filed criminal charges in Hamburg and Munich “against all persons who are jointly responsible for the production, distribution, and publication of the so-called Ibiza video.” The applications are directed against unknown persons. “Süddeutsche” and “Spiegel,” which published the video, are based in Munich and Hamburg, respectively.

Strache’s lawyer in Austria, Johann Pauer, believes further legal action is possible. “The filing of a criminal complaint in Spain is currently still under consideration,” he told the STANDARD. Strache himself on Facebook: “It’s about full clarification, dignity, justice, and truth against the completely out of context overall context of the criminally created and edited together 7 minute Ibiza video.” (Renate Graber, David Krutzler, 6/4/2019)