Casinos Affair

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The Casinos affair or Causa Casinos are alleged agreements between politicians of the former Austrian governing parties ÖVP and FPÖ as well as the gaming group Novomatic regarding the composition of the board of directors of Casinos Austria and possible future licenses . The case has been investigated since June 1, 2019, and the public first became aware of it on August 13, 2019 as part of the reporting of several house searches .

The protagonists of the affair include Casinos Austria board member Peter Sidlo , the former FPÖ politicians Heinz-Christian Strache and Johann Gudenus as well as managers and owners of Novomatic, as well as the former finance minister Hartwig Löger , appointed by the ÖVP, whose FPÖ state secretary Hubert Fuchs and Thomas Schmid , at that time Secretary General in the Ministry of Finance and today a board member of Österreichische Beteiligungs AG , the Casinos Supervisory Board President Walter Rothensteiner and his deputy, the former Finance Minister Josef Pröll (ÖVP).

background

In 2011, the red-green city government decided in Vienna to abolish the so-called “small game of chance”, i.e. the operation of gaming machines . Slot machines have therefore been banned in the federal capital since 2015. This resulted in considerable losses in sales for the Novomatic Group . The Vienna Chamber of Commerce and leisure businesses demanded the small game of chance back in May 2019.

On March 28, 2019, the Supervisory Board of Casinos Austria AG (CASAG) unanimously appointed Peter Sidlo as Chief Financial Officer, although according to the HR consultant involved, Egon Zehnder , he lacked management experience and has never been responsible for large budgets and complex business models. In the report, which was addressed to the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Walter Rothensteiner , Sidlo was described as not qualified overall. This reorganization of the board happened prematurely, originally a new appointment would not have been planned until 2020. Therefore, the contracts of the members who left early had to be paid out. According to research by the daily newspaper Der Standard , the payments are said to have totaled around EUR 7.5 million, but this sum was rejected by Casinos Austria.

In the Ibiza video recorded in 2017 and made public in May 2019, there were already indications of possible contacts between the FPÖ politicians involved and Novomatic. Allegedly under the influence of alcohol, Strache announced in the video recording: "Novomatic pays everyone". As a result of the Ibiza affair, the Kurz government's confidence was withdrawn in parliament and an early National Council election was scheduled for September 2019 . In the meantime, the government of experts Bierlein officiated .

Owner of Casinos Austria

The Republic of Austria , represented by ÖBAG, is the second largest shareholder in Casinos Austria. The largest shareholder since major acquisitions in 2018 has been the Czech Sazka Group , based in Limassol , Cyprus. The ownership structure in detail:

According to an agreement of the most important shareholders, each of the three largest shareholders has the right to propose a member of the Management Board. Bettina Glatz-Kremsner (ÖVP) has been General Director since May 1, 2019 .

Anonymous ads

The criminal investigation was triggered by an anonymous complaint received by the Economic and Corruption Public Prosecutor's Office (WKStA), which reportedly contained detailed insider knowledge. On June 1, 2019, the WKStA therefore issued investigative orders. For the first time, on June 4, 2019 , the Standard reported on the existence of the notification and the start of the investigation. According to a search warrant, the ad is said to have been quoted from conversations in an intimate circle.

A few months before Sidlo was appointed, Gudenus and Novomatic CEO Harald Neumann should have agreed that Novomatic will nominate Peter Sidlo as Casinos Austria's third board member. This procedure is said to have been discussed with the then Vice Chancellor Strache. In February 2019, State Secretary for Finance Hubert Fuchs visited the ICE gaming fair in London, where he met the Novomatic managers Graf and Neumann and is said to have agreed the Sidlo order. In return, the FPÖ politicians are said to have made commitments for a national online gaming license and for a Novomatic casino in Vienna. In addition, Gudenus is said to have announced that in the event of an FPÖ election victory in Vienna in 2020, the small game of chance would be approved again.

According to research by the daily Kurier , six people were originally investigated, in addition to Gudenus, Sidlo and Strache, also against the Novomatic founder Johann Graf , the Novomatic boss and Casinos Austria supervisory board Harald Neumann and against Hubert Fuchs (FPÖ), the former state secretary in the Ministry of Finance, in this function responsible for the implementation of the Gambling Act . Novomatic itself is investigated according to corporate criminal law.

Another anonymous complaint was received in mid-August against the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Walter Rothensteiner , in which he was accused of infidelity ; The premature restructuring of the management board meant "unnecessary burdens in the millions" for the company.

At the beginning of September 2019, the Standard announced that a third anonymous complaint was alleging the following persons:

  • the former Finance Minister, short-term Vice Chancellor and Federal Chancellor Hartwig Löger (appointed by the ÖVP),
  • the former State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance Hubert Fuchs (FPÖ),
  • the former Secretary General in the Ministry of Finance Thomas Schmid and against
  • the Casinos Supervisory Board President Walter Rothensteiner, the Advocate General of the Austrian Raiffeisen Association.

In connection with the appointment of Peter Sidlo, the named are accused of "gross, willful breach of duty". They would have "deliberately ignored" Sidlo's non-qualification.

Investigations

First house searches

On the basis of the first complaint and at least one hearing of witnesses, the WKStA carried out eight house searches of private residences and two of company offices on August 12, 2019 on suspicion of bribery or corruption :

  • with Heinz-Christian Strache, former Vice Chancellor and FPÖ Federal Chairman,
  • at the apartment of Johann Gudenus, former FPÖ club man in the National Council,
  • at Casinos Austria board member Peter Sidlo, FPÖ district council in Vienna-Alsergrund,
  • with Harald Neumann, Novomatic CEO,
  • with Johann Graf, owner of Novomatic.

A "voluntary inspection" took place at the Novomatic company headquarters. In addition, the WKStA searched the premises of the St. Jakob Freedom Education Institute in East Tyrol on that day; it should also have been a "voluntary inspection".

Progress of investigations

The Standard reported on August 15 that after the house searches within the Economic and Corruption Public Prosecutor's Office (WKStA), “strong dissonances” had arisen, particularly with regard to the bias of individual investigators. The raids were led by a senior public prosecutor of the WKStA, but they were carried out by a special commission (SoKo) of the Federal Criminal Police Office . According to this, "the WKStA [...] was concerned that Soko people close to the ÖVP could endanger the investigation", especially since it was the analysis of the cell phone data of Heinz-Christian Strache (FPÖ), the former coalition partner, but also a competitor of the ÖVP. In a broadcast by the WKStA on Wednesday evening, however, it was said that “no reason could be found that would be suitable to cast doubt on the full impartiality and impartiality of the Federal Criminal Police Office”.

On August 19, 2019, several media outlets reported further details of the second ad, the wording of which allegedly appeared on the Internet. It states, among other things, that the Casinos-Austria supervisory board should have been withheld from the personnel consultant's negative assessment of Sido. Behind this is an internal coalition agreement, according to which "both colors of government should be represented in the new casino board of directors" and an alleged instruction in this matter from Finance Minister Löger to supervisory board chairman Rothensteiner. In this context, there is said to have been a personal coordination meeting between Vice Chancellor Strache and Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz a few days before Sidlo's appointment .

On September 4, 2019, there was a police operation in the Federal Ministry of Finance . E-mails and the calendar of the former Finance Secretary Hubert Fuchs (FPÖ) are said to have been confiscated.

Statements of those concerned

All suspects have "vehemently denied" the allegations. Gudenus's defense lawyer described the allegations as absurd. Strache denied any behavior that complied with the criminal offense of bribery and saw a temporal connection with the 2019 National Council election. Hubert Fuchs announced that the issue of licenses had not been an issue in the talks in London.

Casinos Supervisory Board President Walter Rothensteiner described the allegations against him as absurd. The reorganization of the management board was based on lengthy discussions in the supervisory board and in the interests of the company, the payments for the resulting terminations of management board mandates and contracts were “within the scope of what is usual in such cases”.

Novomatic AG and its managers also vehemently deny the anonymous allegations. On September 5, 2019, Peter Sidlo, whose appointment as CFO is at the center of the affair, announced that he was taking leave of absence until clarification. The Presidium sees this as a “sign of its sense of responsibility for the company”. The next day, Sidlo also suspended his position at the Austrian National Bank . Casinos Austria's supervisory board commissioned a law firm and an auditing firm to review Sidlo's appointment. A final report on this is expected by the end of November 2019.

More house searches

On November 12th, more house searches took place at

  • the former Finance Minister Hartwig Löger,
  • the former finance minister and currently deputy casino supervisory board president Josef Pröll (ÖVP),
  • Casinos Supervisory Board President Walter Rothensteiner,
  • the state holding company ÖBAG and at
  • ÖBAG boss Thomas Schmid.

Cell phones from Löger and Pröll were also confiscated. The search of the ÖBAG was, according to the weekly magazine Profil, a "voluntary look-up".

The WKStA has now listed Löger, Pröll, Schmid and Rothensteiner as suspects. The daily newspaper Die Presse is said to have had a memo from Rothensteiner, according to which Rothensteiner and Löger before Sidlo ordered a "background deal" from Novomatic founder Johann Graf "with the blues" [d. H. with the FPÖ] and according to which the appointment of Sidlos should have been "a must".

The reason for the new searches and voluntary investigations were the results of the investigation which confirmed the allegations of the anonymous reports "in large areas". Accordingly, Finance Minister Löger told Casinos President Rothensteiner that, due to a "deal" between Novomatic and the FPÖ, the candidate Sidlo would have to be appointed. Löger was instigated by Graf and Neumann von Novomatic, and his cabinet chief Schmid, who is said to have sent Neumann a photographed ministry document on January 31, 2019, about the issuing of online licenses, helped him. In a conversation that followed on the same day between Graf, Neumann and Löger, the "background deal" and Sidlo's appointment were also discussed. Schmid helped Löger to convince Rothensteiner. Among other things, the WKStA found WhatsApp data on cell phones confiscated from Strache, Gudenus and Fuchs , which should suggest that the said "deal" was coming about.

Therefore against Löger, Schmid, Rothensteiner and Pröll there is a suspicion of bribery, against Löger also the suspicion of abuse of office , against Rothensteiner and Pröll also the suspicion of unfaithfulness. All of the accused deny the allegations.

Further developments

On November 15, the President of the Court of Auditors, Margit Kraker, announced that she would have the matter examined by the Court of Auditors as far as possible. She regretted that the Court of Auditors cannot audit the Casinos Austria company, as the state's participation in it is less than 50 percent. For this purpose, the sending of supervisory boards by the federal government is to be examined.

On the evening of November 17, the weekly newspaper Falter and the daily newspaper Die Presse published new chat protocols, which Postenschacher also suggest in other companies.

In the days that followed, several media released further details from chat logs. According to this, the current FPÖ chairman and then infrastructure minister Norbert Hofer should at least have been informed about the processes surrounding the occupation. Information is also said to have been sent to Interior Minister Herbert Kickl . Vice Chancellor Strache is said to have described a "casino online law" in a message to Herbert Fuchs as his "lighthouse project". The WKStA stated that "the amendment of the laws relating to gambling, at least in the immediate temporal connection with the appointment" of Sidlos to the Casinos Austria board of directors, was "discussed at the highest government, functionary and owner level of Novomatic AG".

ÖVP party chairman Sebastian Kurz stated on November 15 that he knew the "system" about the cause, first there would be an anonymous report and later the claims would "vanish into thin air". After chat messages were published in which ÖVP politician Gernot Blümel and a "meeting with Seb" were mentioned, Kurz threatened to sue on November 24 if the ÖVP or its representatives were to be accused of criminal matters.

Meanwhile, in an interview , Sazka CEO Robert Chvátal called for a comprehensive personnel renewal at the top of Casinos Austria, as “individuals” did not act “for the good of the company”. He also stated that Sidlo had already spoken of upcoming new "online game licenses" during their first conversation in January 2019.

On December 2, Peter Sidlo was dismissed as CFO at an extraordinary meeting of the Casinos Austria Supervisory Board. The decisive factor for this was a motion from the workforce representatives, stating that the decision had been made for the benefit of the company after extensive discussion.

Complaints from several victims against the house searches, cell phone seizures and call data recovery were rejected by the Vienna Higher Regional Court in January 2020. The underlying anonymous advertisement is "extremely detailed", its content "credible and plausible". Therefore, the judicial approval of the investigative measures was admissible and proportionate.

Another house search at Novomatic took place on March 11, 2020. Even with Markus Tschank near FPOe, lawyer and chairman of the Institute for Security Studies (ISP), there should have been a raid. The ISP was sponsored by Novomatic with 240,000 euros. The WKStA confirmed the next day that further house searches had taken place and announced that the investigations had been expanded. Accordingly, the existing suspicions have been confirmed and there have been "further suspicions against, in some cases, other suspects". Details of the house searches or the number of suspects were not disclosed. The ORF radio station Ö1 reported on March 14, 2020 that the public prosecutor's office had received a note from Neumann's cell phone about the target for 2018 with the content "Casino license plus online - in progress". This confirms the suspicion that Sidlo's order was only part of a "'deal" and the overall strategy for obtaining your own Novomatic licenses ".

Committee of Inquiry

On November 14, 2019, NEOS called for the establishment of a parliamentary committee of inquiry . The SPÖ , the Greens and NEOS agreed to submit a joint motion for a special session in the National Council .

On November 18, the Greens chairman Werner Kogler also pleaded for a committee of inquiry into the affair and called on the SPÖ to abandon its wait-and-see attitude on this issue.

The requested special session in the National Council took place on November 26th. Finance Minister Eduard Müller announced that he would have a private report on the appointment of Sidlo, which an administrative law expert prepared on behalf of the Sazka Group, examined by the financial procurator . He also reported that Löger had not issued any instructions to the state commissioners . No motions for resolutions were adopted at the meeting , except for one calling for the Ibiza affair to be fully investigated .

On November 28, the party leaders of the SPÖ and NEOS, Pamela Rendi-Wagner and Beate Meinl-Reisinger , declared that their parties would jointly submit a request for a committee of inquiry into the cause. The two parties together have enough seats to set up a U-Committee. On December 11th, the motion was referred to the National Council's committee of rules of procedure for examination of the legal admissibility. After its conclusion, which is expected to take a few weeks, it is automatically deemed to have been appointed when a corresponding item on the agenda of a subsequent National Council meeting is called up. [outdated]

On January 22, 2020, the National Council decided to set up the announced committee of inquiry , which will examine the issues surrounding the casino affair, the background to the transformation of the state holding company ÖBIB into the ÖBAG stock corporation and the appointment of Schmid to the ÖBAG board. Originally, the composition of the Financial Market Authority and the Ibiza video should also be discussed in the committee of inquiry . However, the ÖVP and the Greens rejected this - the two parties were now coalition partners in the new Federal Government, Kurz II - as too far-reaching and incoherent. The SPÖ and NEOS, however, lodged a complaint with the Constitutional Court on February 3rd , which confirmed them on March 3rd. Thus the committee of inquiry can take place in full.

Web links

Individual evidence

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  2. ^ Vienna: Leisure businesses are demanding back small games of chance. In: kurier.at . May 8, 2019, accessed November 15, 2019.
  3. ↑ Renate Graber: Blue Casinos CFO Sidlo was not qualified for the post. In: derstandard.at . May 21, 2019, accessed November 15, 2019.
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