Corruption in Austria: The tip of the iceberg

On Wednesday, July 12, 2017 at 7:34 a.m., the chairman of the Vienna People’s Party, Gernot Blümel, received a message:

Good morning, I have a request: I need a short appointment with Kurz (firstly because of a donation and secondly regarding a problem that we have in Italy! Do you think it will work out this week ?? Harald

Almost three hours later, at 10:18 a.m., Gernot Blümel wrote to the Secretary General at the Ministry of Finance, Thomas Schmid:

Please call Neumann back. Do it for me 😘

The “problem in Italy” was solved to the satisfaction of Harald. An impending tax back payment by his company of up to 60 million euros was eliminated through a settlement of 20 million euros, and nothing stood in the way of the planned IPO.

There is one office responsible for the “mediation of legal and administrative assistance” as well as for the “protection of Austrian citizens and their assets abroad and vis-à-vis other countries”. It’s the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At that time, the Minister was Gernot Blümel’s friend Sebastian Kurz 😘

Harald Neumann’s company is called Novomatic, the largest gambling-company in the country. It is now a cooperation partner of the “Alois Mock Institute” under its President Wolfgang Sobotka.

Gernot Blümel, Wolfgang Sobotka and Sebastian Kurz are all members of the Austrian People’s Party. Meanwhile Gernot Blümel is Finance Minister, Wolfgang Sobotka President of the National Council and Sebastian Kurz is Federal Chancellor.

Section 304 Criminal Code: Bribery

(1) A public official or arbitrator who demands, accepts or allows himself to be promised an advantage for himself or a third party for the improper performance or omission of an official business shall be punished with imprisonment of up to three years.

(2) Anyone who commits the act in relation to the value of the benefit in excess of EUR 3,000 is punished with imprisonment from six months to five years, but whoever commits the act in relation to the value of the advantage in excess of EUR 50,000 is imprisonment to punish from one to ten years.

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According to research by Austrian Broadcasting ORF, the donations from Novomatic to the “Alois Mock Institute” amounted to EUR 108,935 until 2019.

As it says in the mission statement of the “Alois Mock Institute”:

“It’s not about giving ready-made answers. Rather, the institute would like to outline topics and show various approaches from which everyone can draw conclusions for their own field of activity.” (Wolfgang Sobotka, President of the Alois Mock Institute)

Alois Mock was predecessor of Sebastian Kurz as Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Austrian People’s Party. Right now he’s turning in his grave.

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