Martin Schlaff

Martin Schlomo Mordechai Joschua Schlaff (born August 6, 1953 in Vienna ) is an entrepreneur, networker and member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria . With an estimated fortune between 1.5 and 3 billion euros, he is one of the richest Austrians .

Life

Martin Schlaff is the son of Jewish refugees who ended up in a Vienna DP camp in 1945 . In the 1950s, his parents founded a trading company with businessmen Ladislaus Moldovan and Friedrich Wiesel, which was mainly active in Eastern trade.

Schlaff studied at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and joined Robert Placzek OHG , which was founded in 1952 and deleted in 1987 and now operates as Robert Placzek AG and is owned by the company "Robert Placzek" Holding Aktiengesellschaft . The Ministry for State Security of the GDR is said to have led Schlaff as an unofficial employee with the name "Landgraf". However, Schlaff denies this and has won all lawsuits in this regard. The Mayor of Vienna Zilk awarded him the Golden Decoration of Honor in 1993 for services to the State of Vienna . Because Schlaff is shy of the public, the award event took place without the press.

Eastern trade

With the trading company Robert Placzek AG, Schlaff was mainly active in Eastern trade and maintained good contacts with the leaders of the German Democratic Republic and the Communist Party of Austria . After the opening of the East, he was suspected of having acquired his not inconsiderable fortune through technology transfers and money laundering for the GDR. However, the German judiciary could not find sufficient evidence and closed its investigation in 2000.

Oasis casino project

Thanks to his excellent contacts, including with Palestinians , he managed to open a casino in Jericho in 1998 . The "Oasis", intended for Israeli players, was closed again in 2000 during the Second Intifada .

In the course of the approval process for the opening and the planned swift reopening of the casino, Schlaff is said to have made high bribe payments to several high-ranking politicians. The former Austrian Vice Chancellor Norbert Steger ( FPÖ ) provided decisive information . He testified before a French court that millions of dollars had been used by a Liechtenstein company involved in the Oasis project to create "a good atmosphere for the casino".

In early September 2010, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Israeli investigations identified Schlaff as the originator of $ 4.5 million in transfers to the Sharon family and recommended a bribery charge. The Austrian public prosecutor Gerhard Jarosch , who was entrusted with the case , also saw the suspicion of bribery confirmed. Protocols of tapped Schlaff telephone calls confirm that he had excellent contacts with the highest Israeli circles, especially with Sharon and the current Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liebermann . Lieberman, who was head of the infrastructure ministry at the time of the casino project, is said to have received bribes of at least $ 650,000 alongside Sharon and former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert . Furthermore, Schlaff supported the former chairman of the Shas party , Aryeh Deri , with hundreds of thousands of dollars , who had to defend himself in court against the accusation of accepting bribes. Deri was finally convicted.

The investigations in the course of the Oasis bribery affair had been running since 2003 and had repeatedly been hindered or delayed by Austrian authorities and Schlaff. Peter Pilz accused the Foreign Minister at the time, Benita Ferrero-Waldner , that these delays were the consideration for the dispatch of an Israeli ambassador to Vienna again. Lax has recently avoided visiting Israel. He also did not attend the funeral of his father Chaim Schlaff in Jerusalem after the Israeli police announced that they would arrest and interrogate him if he entered Israel.

Mobil deal

In 2002, Schlaff and his partners, the former ÖVP chairman Josef Taus and the former Länderbank board member Herbert Cordt, took over the largest Bulgarian mobile network operator Mobiltel from the Russian businessman Michael Cherney, who was now wanted by international arrest warrant . This takeover cost 850 million euros and was financed by BAWAG . The consortium managed to organize the company according to western standards and to sell it on to Telekom Austria in 2005 . The profit from the short-term commitment is rumored to be 800 million euros. Bawag itself got out of this deal with no profit.

Mobtel deal

In 2005, Schlaff tried to repeat the Bulgaria coup in Serbia . With his partners Josef Taus and Herbert Cordt, he took over shares in the Serbian mobile communications company Mobtel from Bogoljub Karić . However, the government revoked the company's license. After intervention by the Austrian government, a compromise was negotiated that secured the group’s investments, even though they did not go through the auction in 2006.

Bawag affair

Schlaff was also interviewed as a witness to the Bawag trial . He explained transactions to his companies in such a way that they were parked for a businessman who had been placed with Bawag. Schlaff emphasized that he knew nothing of the high losses caused by Flöttl's speculations. At the end of the testimony, when asked about the reimbursement of travel expenses to which he was entitled, the billionaire simply said: "Thank you, I'll be fine."

In October 2006, Schlaff hit the headlines because he provided one million euros as bail for his long-time friend, chess partner and business partner Helmut Elsner , who was imprisoned in France in the wake of the BAWAG scandal .

Connections to Gazprom

Slack is also associated with Gazprom companies. His close business partner Michael Hason holds numerous positions in the Centrex Group , which is part of the Gazprom Group. In addition, Schlaff owns a company in Cyprus, which is registered at the same address as Centrex Holding. Both companies share some managing directors. Schlaff, Centrex, and Robert Nowikovsky have the same press officer.

Other economic activities

At the end of 2006, Martin Schlaff took control of 30% of the refractories group RHI AG . In September 2007 he played a key role in the takeover of the Belarusian mobile communications provider MDC by Telekom Austria - for an alleged EUR 1.05 billion. He has been active with Sigma Kreditbank since 2010. This gives Schufa-free small loans to German employees.

Network activity

The large network Schlaffs "is based on the principle of give and take".

Former Stasi officers found accommodation in Schlaff companies, and ex-Telekom CFO Stefano Colombo, who bought the Mobiltel from him at a high price, moved to the RHI board of directors. Also at RHI, on the supervisory board, were former Federal Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer and former Vice Chancellor Hubert Gorbach until August 2017 . There Gorbach received at least a basic income to compensate for his political interventions in the Balkans. After successful negotiations with Christian Kern to take over the office of chairman of the board, he switched to politics as Federal Chancellor for the SPÖ .

In 2002, Schlaff used his contacts to Ariel Scharon to support the Austrian federal government under Wolfgang Schüssel in its endeavors to normalize relations with Israel. In 2003 an ambassador was again sent to Austria.

In August 2010, Schlaff brokered the release of Israeli Rafael Haddad, who was being held in Libya on charges of espionage. He was flown from Libya to Vienna on August 8 and received there by the Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Schlaff used his good contacts to revolutionary leader Gaddafi and his son Saif .

Others

Over a period of ten years, Schlaff put together an anti-Semitism collection with around 5,000 objects spanning a period from 1490 to 1946, which he donated to the City of Vienna in 1993 for the Jewish Museum . This cataloged the exhibits and prepared them for a major exhibition. 

Martin Schlaff's villa in Vienna, which his second wife received when they divorced

Schlaff is the father of three sons and two daughters from three marriages. Another source reports six sons. At the end of March 2008, Schlaff hit the headlines because he divorced his wife Andrea and paid a rumored 200 million euros in severance payment, while the main villa at Salmannsdorfer Höhe 10 in the 19th Viennese district of Döbling also became the property of his ex-wife Andrea over. Schlaff also owns a property in Maria-Anzbach .

His brother James was born in 1952.

In October 2012, Schlaff testified as the last witness before the investigative committee to clarify allegations of corruption , provoking with a Gestapo settlement.

Schlaff has been a member of the SPÖ since 1986 .

Web links

• Alexander von Paleske: An APO man from Vienna - Martin Schlaff. May 23, 2009, archived from the original on June 3, 2009 . 
• The 4 there - rich live with Martin Schlick on YouTube

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} The high wire dancer - Spiegel No. 33/2010.
2. ^ Die Presse , January 5, 2006
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Andreas Schnauder: Head of the day . In: Der Standard , October 4, 2007.
4. ↑ The list of the 100 richest Austrians . In: Austria , July 29, 2009.
5. ↑ Andreas Ahrmfrau: "Something about me must be bewitched" . In: Die Zeit , No. 3/2006.
6. ^ Profile : The long way of Martin Schlaff ; Retrieved Oct. 12, 2012.
7. ^ Kurier : Telekom: Investigations against Martin Schlaff ; Retrieved Oct. 12, 2012.
8. ↑ FirmenABC.at: Robert Placzek Aktiengesellschaft ; Retrieved Oct. 13, 2012.
9. ^ Andreas Förster: On the trail of the Stasi millions: the Vienna connection ; Argon, 1998.
10. ↑ Berliner Zeitung from 1996-08.01: IM "Landgraf" is now piling his money in Switzerland ; Retrieved October 12, 2012.
11. ^ ^{A b c} Ha-Aretz: Israeli probe finds Austrian billionaire behind illicit money transfer to Sharon family , September 7, 2010.
12. ↑ ^{a b} Israelnationalnews.com: Police Say There's Evidence Linking Sharon to $ 3 Million Bribe , April 1st of 2006.
13. Jump up ↑ The Press: Sharon Bribe Affair Rerun , July 5, 2007.
14. ↑ ^{a b} Isrealnationalnews.com: slack lacked the father at the funeral , April 5th of 2010.
15. ↑ Wanted: CHERNEY, Michael ( Memento of the original from December 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Interpol , (October 14, 2010). 
16. ^ Schlaff, Elsner, Birdie and Telekom . In: Salzburger Nachrichten , September 22, 2006.
17. ↑ Reporting on the Bawag process  ( 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. on ORF.at.  
18. ^ Entrepreneur Schlaff Witness in the BAWAG trial: “I brokered a businessman” . In: News.at, October 11, 2007.
19. ↑ Entrepreneur Martin Schlaff on the witness stand: "The Jericho Casino was my project." In: News, February 19, 2008.
20. ↑ What's left? Countdown to the Bawag sale: How is the bank doing today after the crisis? ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Format , 06/07. 
21. ↑ Ö1 Inforadio  ( 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. , ORF , October 4, 2006.  
22. ↑ A tale of gazoviki, money and greed ( Memento of the original from January 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Stern magazine, September 13, 2007. 
23. ^ Liechtenstein banking license for Martin Schlaff Der Standard newspaper, May 10, 2010.
24. ↑ Vaduzer Bank without carpet floor Liechtensteiner Vaterland newspaper, May 8, 2010.
25. ↑ Change of manager: RHI: Schlaff brings Colombo to the board . In: Die Presse , June 7, 2007.
26. ↑ RHI Supervisory Board in future without Gorbach and Gusenbauer . In: The Standard . September 15, 2017, p.  22 .
27. ↑ Kern dropped millions . In: Courier . September 24, 2017, p.  9 ( Online [accessed October 24, 2017]).
28. ^ Wiener Zeitung : Die Schattenspiele der Diplomats , August 9, 2010 (accessed November 6, 2013)
29. ↑ The network of the gray eminence Martin Schlaff . ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Börse-Express , November 18, 2003 
30. ↑ Diary March 10, 1993 ( Memento of the original from February 13, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - Jewish Museum Vienna . 
31. ^ Billionaire Slack: His son is here. Austria , May 21, 2010, accessed October 22, 2017 .  
32. ↑ Haaretz : The Schlaff saga ; Retrieved Oct. 12, 2012
33. ↑ Martin Schlaff: Most expensive divorce in the world. In: Austria , March 27, 2008.
34. ↑ Schlaff und König say yes In: Austria , April 11, 2008.
35. ↑ Michael Nikbakhsh: Austria's only oligarch . In: profile . No. 28 , July 9, 2007, pp. 42 ( Online [accessed on October 22, 2017] Portrait: Austria's only oligarch - a cross-border commuter between genius and scandal).
36. ^ Medienscheuer Schlaff says in the U Committee from wienerzeitung.at, accessed on October 11, 2012.
37. ^ Die Presse : Slack provoked with Gestapo settlement ; Retrieved Oct. 11, 2012.
38. ↑ Martin Schlaff: "Strache does not stay in the dirty corner" DiePresse.com, March 19, 2016
39. ↑ Zeit auf Zeit ORF.at, September 19, 2012
40. ↑ Witnesses on the run Kleine Zeitung , September 26, 2012, accessed on April 29, 2020.