Franz Koloini

Franz Koloini (born October 3, 1978 in Villach ) is a former Austrian functionary of the FPÖ , from 2009 a member of the Carinthian Freedom Party (FPK) . In 1999 he met Jörg Haider and then became his private secretary and chief of protocol as well as temporarily chairman of FC Kärnten . In 2005 he moved to the newly founded BZÖ . In 2006 he was responsible for marketing the European Football Championship in Carinthia. After Jörg Haider's death in October 2008, he stepped down from all offices. In the course of his political activities he was involved in numerous scandals.

Life

Koloini grew up in Villach. The family's ancestors originally come from what is now Italy; his great-grandfather claims to be the Grand Duke of Venice Coloini. However, the title of Grand Duke of Venice is not known. After attending the sports school in Villach / Lind and a hotel management school, he then worked on a cruise ship, where he met Jörg Haider in the spring of 1999.

politics

Haider initially recruited him as an election worker. After winning the election campaign Haider was again the Carinthian governor elected and made Koloini to his private secretary. He replaced Gerry Mikscha in this position, who was promoted to federal manager of the FPÖ. Koloini was later promoted by the current governor to head of protocol for the state of Carinthia. He was now one of Haider's closest confidants and was attributed to Haider's Buberlpartie by political observers . His nickname there was "the beautiful Franz".

In the 1999 National Council election , the FPÖ achieved its best result to date. In early 2000, a black-blue coalition government was formed. For tactical reasons, however, Jörg Haider himself did not take on a role, but officially retired to Carinthia, where he concentrated all the more on state politics. This also increased the importance of Franz Koloini steadily. On behalf of his political foster father, he now took on various political offices in Carinthia. The enthusiastic athlete was appointed authorized signatory of FC Kärnten, was chairman of the BFV Juniors playing in the Red Zac Erste Liga and was responsible for organizing the events typical of Haider's management style in Carinthia. He also accompanied him on trips abroad, for example to Saddam Hussein in Iraq or to Libya to Muammar al-Gaddafi . In addition, he and his father opened a restaurant in Carinthia, the "Bachlwirt".

In 2003, his work brought him into the crossfire of criticism for the first time. Koloini had to justify himself to the investigative committee of the Carinthian state parliament because of the settlement of a visit to Haider's restaurant with Arab friends on the occasion of a trip to Iraq. After the tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004 he was commissioned by Haider to look after an aid project in Banda Aceh financed by the state of Carinthia . The state wanted to build a settlement called “Carinthia” for residents who had been made homeless by the tsunami. However, the construction of this village was continuously delayed and was still uninhabited until 2007. In addition, it caused costs well above plan, which was heavily criticized by the SPÖ and ÖVP and later by the Court of Auditors .

In 2006, Koloini, together with Peter Ambrozy and Gernot Nischelwitzer, was appointed EM representative and was supposed to take care of the marketing of the European football championship, which was also held in the Klagenfurt Hypo Group Arena . However, due to an affair about the private use of a company credit card, he had to hand this function over to Jörg Schretter in January 2007. On the night of October 11, 2008, his political mentor Jörg Haider had a fatal accident in a traffic accident, which meant an earthquake for the political landscape in Carinthia.

When the Carinthian Freedom Party (FPK) around Uwe Scheuch and Gerhard Dörfler split off from the Federal BZÖ under Josef Bucher in the follow-up struggles over Haider's political legacy after the Hypo-Alpe Adria affair in 2009 , Koloini went with them. Originally geared towards Haider, he lacked allies in the new party. Although still one of the youngest functionaries, like Stefan Petzner, he was increasingly perceived as a legacy and lost influence. In addition, there were personal difficulties. In the spring of 2010 Franz Koloini filed personal bankruptcy in.

Legal proceedings

On February 18, 2008, Koloini was sentenced to a fine of 2,700 euros for dangerous threats.

At the end of 2008 he was also accused of financial irregularities at SK Austria Kärnten. The main witness at the time, ex-club president Mario Canori , withdrew his incriminating statements and Koloini was acquitted on March 11, 2009.

In June 2010, a 2005 monetary transaction led to further investigations. At the time, two Russian businessmen offered Jörg Haider two million euros to obtain Austrian citizenship. Haider had used part of the money to get the Carinthian racing driver Patrick Friesacher a place in the Formula 1 team Minardi . However, Koloini was commissioned to process the transaction, using his private account. In the dispute over the party funds after Haider's death, Koloini was now accused of having kept the money for himself, which he was able to refute before the corruption prosecutor. It was later investigated for hidden party funding. On April 1, 2011, it became known that the Corruption Prosecutor was bringing charges against Koloini on suspicion of money laundering. He was subsequently acquitted on October 14, 2011 by the Vienna Regional Criminal Court. However, this judgment was overturned by the Higher Regional Court of Vienna on August 17, 2012. However, he was acquitted again in the subsequent process on January 28, 2013. The public prosecutor's office waived a further appeal, whereby the judgment became final.

Functions

He temporarily held the following political and administrative functions:

• Chief of Protocol of the State of Carinthia
• Authorized officer of the Bundesliga soccer club SK Austria Kärnten
• Chairman of the BFV Juniors
• Chairman of the reorganized FC Kärnten
• Board of Directors of the Carinthia Private Foundation
• Marketing representative of the state of Carinthia for the EM 2008

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Der Standard: The beautiful Franz in the headlines , October 3, 2003
2. ↑ Vorarlberg Online: Haider accounts: money in Switzerland? , August 2, 2010
3. ^ Wiener Zeitung : Franz Koloini - The "beautiful Franz" started out as a waiter , August 4th 2010 (accessed November 15, 2013)
4. ↑ ktn.gv.at: Carinthian delegation in Banda Aceh: Land secured for Carinthian village , February 23, 2005
5. ↑ ORF Online: Story collection for Causa Carinthia Village ( Memento of 15 August 2007 at the Internet Archive )
6. ^ Profile: Affair: How a clique of FPÖ secretaries turned politics into business , 23 January 2010
7. ^ ORF Carinthia: New coordinator: Jörg Schretter , January 8, 2007
8. ↑ Monats.at: Koloini leaves BZÖ  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , August 2010  
9. ↑ Month.at: Franz Koloini: The Interview on Bankruptcy ( Memento of the original from May 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , March 2010 
10. ^ ORF-Kärnten: Haider's former chief of protocol sentenced , February 18, 2008
11. ↑ ORF-Kärnten: SK-Austria-authorized signatory Koloini acquitted , March 11th, 2009
12. ↑ Kleine Zeitung  : Ex-Haider chief of protocol Koloini incriminates deceased governor ( memento of June 22, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), June 9, 2010
13. ^ ORF-Kärnten: Koloini charges Haider , May 27, 2010
14. ^ ORF-Kärnten: Money laundering allegation: Koloini has to go to court , April 1, 2011
15. ^ ORF : acquittal for Franz Koloini , October 14, 2011
16. ^ ORF : Koloini acquittal overturned , September 4, 2012
17. ^ Der Standard : acquittal for Haider's ex-chief of protocol Koloini overturned , September 4, 2012
18. ^ ORF : Koloini Trial: Four acquittals , January 28, 2013
19. ↑ Kleine Zeitung : acquittals in the Koloini trial final , February 1, 2013
20. ^ ORF-Online: Franz Koloini in court again on Wednesday , December 1, 2008
21. ↑ From Achammer to Zimmermann - The Item Schacherlist . In: Falter, issue 38/2006 from September 20, 2006 ( Memento from April 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive )