Telecom affair

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The Telekom affair is the term used to describe criminally relevant actions by the management of Telekom Austria as well as some business partners and politicians of the black-blue government coalition that occurred during the term of office of Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel (ÖVP) and two FPÖ Vice Chancellors between 2000 and 2007.

Price manipulation, unauthorized campaign donations to the FPÖ and BZÖ , donations to sub-organizations of four parties, influencing the award of contracts, questionable football sponsorship and unclear company takeovers are suspected. On the edge, the ÖVP and SPÖ are also said to be affected. It is therefore one of the largest corruption cases in the Second Republic .

When the affair became known, on September 8, 2011, Schüssel resigned from his membership in the National Council .

Price manipulation for the purpose of bonus payout

In 2004, which was the share price of Telekom Austria by massive stock purchases made by board members of the Telekom Austria should have been given self-commissioned, driven over that threshold, the board and the middle management promised substantial bonuses. 8.7 million euros in bonuses were distributed, and the current director general was one of the beneficiaries. The manipulations were uncovered by the former Telekom Austria board member Gernot Schieszler , who acted in exchange for impunity as a key witness for the public prosecutor in the proceedings. Lobbyist Peter Hochegger was also involved in the transactions .

Boris Nemsic , head of the cell phone division at the time, denies having known about the manipulation. After the affair became known, he paid back his premium of his own free will. In August 2011, Telekom Austria announced that it was demanding the return of all bonuses and announced claims for damages .

Funding a secretary

In August 2011 it became public that the former Vice Chancellor and Infrastructure Minister Hubert Gorbach is suspected of having drafted the new version of the Universal Service Ordinance (UDVO) in 2006 in favor of Telekom Austria and of having been rewarded by the company with 264,000 euros after leaving the ministerial office, officially to finance a secretary. The payment was made through Peter Hochegger's company Valora. The former Vice Chancellor denies receiving the payment. Gorbach was expelled from the Alliance Future Austria party immediately after the payment became known .

Financing of election campaigns

In 2004 Telekom Austria is said to have supported the FPÖ's EU parliamentary election campaign with 500,000 euros, according to a dossier from the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office on September 6, 2011 . The lobbyists and then married couple Gernot and Erika Rumpold, together with "unknown decision-makers at Telekom Austria AG (...) since 2000, should provide advantages to officials who have not been investigated for the conduct of official business in breach of duty, in particular the official building permits for radio masts (...)." to have."

720,000 euros (including 20% ​​VAT) went from Telekom Austria to the Schmied agency, which is close to the BZÖ, in 2006 "for no apparent reason" . This “paid for the work for the BZÖ election campaign,” said Kurt Schmied before the National Council's investigative committee on February 14, 2012. In addition, 240,000 euros are said to have flowed into the preferential vote campaign for the then Justice Minister Karin Gastinger . The Ministry of Infrastructure responsible for Telekom Austria was in the care of FPÖ and BZÖ politicians throughout the Schüssel-Haider coalition .

Contributions to politicians and parties

According to research by the weekly magazine profil , 186,000 euros are said to have been moved from Hocheggers Valora Unternehmensberatung und -beteiligung AG to Valora Solutions Projektbegleitung GmbH in 2007 with funds from Telekom Austria . In addition to Hochegger and Meischberger, Karl-Heinz Grasser was also involved in the latter , which would be relevant under criminal law, since Grasser was Finance Minister and the highest owner representative of Telekom Austria until 2006.

At the end of August it was announced that - again via Peter Hochegger's Valora - € 72,000 had gone to Mathias Reichhold , Gorbach's predecessor as Minister of Infrastructure. Another payment of 10,012.50 euros to Reichhold was made public a week later. Telekom also gave 80,000 euros to the Christian trade unionist faction , a run-up organization of the ÖVP , 30,000 euros for SPÖ MP Kurt Gartlehner and a previously unknown amount of printing subsidies for the FPÖ party sheet Neue Freie Zeitung. 20,000 euros are said to have flowed to the SPÖ-affiliated Echo Medienhaus in 2006 - also through Hocheggers Valora .

Blue light affair Tetron

In September 2011, the US Securities and Exchange Commission began investigating Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly and Motorola . As of April 2004, the American electronics group is said to have instructed the Austrian lobbyist a total of 2.2 million euros for "impermissible payments" (holidays and gifts) to political decision-makers in Europe and the Middle East, among other things in favor of awarding the Austria-wide uniform authority Radio project TETRON . The Telekom Austria is involved in TETRON deal by the network deployment and is in addition 1.1 million euros have referred to Mensdorff-Pouilly. Hunting trips were also ordered and paid for at Mensdorff-Pouilly at a price of at least 170,000 euros.

The contract was originally awarded to a consortium of Siemens , Raiffeisen and Wiener Stadtwerke following a tender in 2002 . In order to make the re-award to Motorola, Alcatel and Telekom Austria possible, the Republic of Austria had to transfer cancellation costs of 30 million euros to the original winners of the tender. TETRON has so far (as of September 2011) only works in three out of nine federal states, and there are some areas. The governor of Salzburg, Gabi Burgstaller , immediately stopped the introduction of TETRON in her state after the allegations became known. A week later, Governor Gerhard Dörfler announced that the federal state of Carinthia would withdraw from the project.

The then Interior Minister Ernst Strasser ( ÖVP ) responsible for the award is said to have been invited to hunt at least twice by Mensdorff-Pouilly with his cabinet (including Christoph Ulmer , Mathias Vogl, Michael Kloibmüller, Oskar Gallop and Philipp Ita). The Green MP Peter Pilz saw incompatibility and prohibited gift acceptance for officials. Also, after his ministerial work, Strasser is said to have received an order from Peter Hochegger worth 100,000 euros for advice on positioning in Bulgaria. The public prosecutor's office is investigating Kloibmüller on suspicion of abuse of office and betrayal of secrets.

In connection with the payments made by Telekom Austria to him, Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly was sentenced to three years of unconditional imprisonment and repayment of 1.1 million euros in damages on December 14, 2014 for breach of trust, and Rudolf Fischer to one year of unconditional imprisonment.

Financing football clubs in a political context

Ultimately, politically motivated sponsoring also became a topic of public discussion. For example, FC Kärnten - headed by Jörg Haider - is said to have received half a million euros from Telekom Austria for tickets. Shortly before the sponsorship, Telekom received the bid for the broadband offensive of the state of Carinthia , which contributed eight million euros to this 45 million euros project. The football club is now bankrupt.

The SV Sierning in the hometown of the former ÖVP Vice Chancellor Wilhelm Molterer was also supported by Telekom Austria through Hocheggers Valora AG for three years with a total of 62,500 euros. An embarrassing mistake is said to have occurred: "In return, the Telekom logo could not be seen on gangs, on jerseys or on the SV Sierning website."

Investigation of acquisitions and real estate

At the end of August 2011, the ÖIAG boss and chairman of the supervisory board of Telekom Austria, Markus Beyrer , former general secretary of the Federation of Industrialists and hunting guest from Mensdorff-Pouilly in Scotland and in Luising , announced a special application for review: The purchases of the mobile communications company Mobiltel (Bulgaria) should be made by outside experts. and velcom (Belarus) are checked by Telekom Austria . It is noticeable that all these acquisitions, as well as the planned but ultimately failed acquisition of Mobtel (Serbia), are in the context of the Austrian entrepreneur Martin Schlaff . The then trade union bank BAWAG and the former ÖVP boss Josef Taus were also involved in the Bulgaria deal, and Hochegger acted as advisor. In public, this investigation is seen as a diversion from the TETRON deal and a sign of an inner ÖVP power struggle. At the same time, the SPÖ - because of Schlaff's and BAWAG's involvement - should be drawn into the scandal.

Criminal proceedings

The Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office is pursuing the criminal offenses in the telecommunications affair in five separate proceedings.

Telecom I

This procedure deals with price manipulation to achieve a bonus payout for Telekom managers. On February 27, 2013 the trial ended in the first instance with convictions against the ex-board members Rudolf Fischer (3 years imprisonment), Stefano Colombo (3.5 years), Josef Trimmel (3 years, two of them conditional) and the broker Johann Wanovits (5 years). Appeal procedures are pending. The acquittal for ex-general director Heinz Sundt became legally binding.

Telecom II

This procedure investigated the suspicion of breach of trust against the ex-marketing boss of Telekom Austria Stefan Tweraser and three co-defendants. They are said to have wrongly received 585,600 euros.

Telecom III

On January 8, 2013, it became known that the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office had brought charges against Gernot Rumpold and Rudolf Fischer and other people in the so-called Telekom Austria affair. They are accused of infidelity and false statements. In the same case, it became known on January 21, 2013 that the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office was also bringing charges against Peter Hochegger, Rudolf Fischer, Klaus Wittauer and others. They are accused of embezzlement, false evidence and money laundering. The proceedings ended in the first instance with convictions against Gernold Rumpold (3 years imprisonment) and Rudolf Fischer (3 years imprisonment, 2.5 of them conditional). Former TA authorized officer Michael G. was sentenced to 30 months in prison (3 unconditional). The former FPÖ federal manager Arno Eccher and the former FPÖ finance officer Detlev Neudeck were acquitted of the allegation of infidelity. Eccher was sentenced to five months conditionally for false testimony in the parliamentary committee of inquiry. On November 25, 2015, the judgment against Gernot Rumpold was confirmed by the Supreme Court and became legally binding. Since the guilty verdict against Rumpold contained the accusation of false testimony, which was ultimately overturned, the sentence had to be redefined. Rumpold was therefore sentenced on August 23, 2016 to eleven months of unconditional imprisonment and 22 more months on probation.

Telecom IV

These proceedings concern the allegation of illegal party funding for the BZÖ election campaign in 2006. The accused are lobbyist Peter Hochegger, former Telekom board member Rudolf Fischer, former BZÖ member Klaus Wittauer, former BZÖ federal manager Arno Eccher, advertising entrepreneur Kurt Schmied and Christoph Pöchinger, press spokesman for the then Minister of Justice Karin Gastinger. The proceedings ended on the night of September 13-14, 2013 in the first instance with convictions against Peter Hochegger (30 months imprisonment), Klaus Wittauer (2 years, of which 3 months are unconditional), Kurt Schmied (30 months, of which 5 months absolutely) and Christian Pöchlinger (2 years, 8 months of which are absolutely necessary). Rudolf Fischer was acquitted, the proceedings against Arno Eccher will be continued on the basis of further interviews with witnesses. The BZÖ was sentenced to reimburse the entire damage amount of 960,000 euros to the Telekom. The confessing advertising entrepreneur Tina H. had previously been sentenced to 20 months of conditional imprisonment. Since the public prosecutor's office accepted all the judgments and Wittauer also agreed to the sentence imposed, the judgment against him and Fischer's acquittal are final. Hochegger, Pöchinger and Schmied, however, announced that they would appeal. On November 25, 2015, the Supreme Court confirmed Peter Hochegger's guilty verdict, but ordered the false testimony procedure to be carried out again against him.

Telekom V

This procedure examines the real estate transactions that were carried out, among others, by the former Telekom General Director Heinz Sundt and the former Telekom Board member Stefano Colombo with the former ÖBB boss Martin Huber and his wife Barbara. In addition to the above, the former Telekom CFO Stefano Colombo, Birgit Wagner, meanwhile board member of ÖBB-Personenverkehr AG, one of her board colleagues and civil engineer Peter Klein have to answer in court. The trial ended in April 2014 with acquittals for all of the defendants. In the cases of Martin Huber, his wife Barbara as well as Heinz Sundt and Stefano Colombo, the Vienna Public Prosecutor announced that they would appeal against the judgment for annulment.

Resignation of Wolfgang Schuessel

At a press conference on September 5, 2011, the ex-Chancellor justified his withdrawal from politics by saying that he wanted to "facilitate an objective clarification by the judiciary, independent of any political influence or media prejudice [...]". At the same time he affirmed that, as head of government, he had placed "high demands in terms of trustworthiness and integrity" on the members of the federal governments he led. Of course, no one can rule out the possibility that their trust will be deceived or abused by individuals. In response to allegations against his former finance minister Karl-Heinz Grasser, Schüssel said that he had “done a good job” as minister. Ernst Strasser was also a good interior minister, said Schüssel.

Wolfgang Schüssel stays u. a. Member of the supervisory board of the energy company RWE and member of the board of trustees of the Bertelsmann Foundation .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ulla Kramar-Schmid , Michael Nikbakhsh: Gernot Schieszler and the Telekom system: The confession of the key witness . In: profil.at , August 14, 2013
  2. ↑ Nemsic has repaid controversial premium . In: The Standard . September 9, 2011
  3. ↑ Peter Sempelmann: Telekom Austria complains bonus payments ( Memento of 23 February 2014 Internet Archive ). In: Wirtschaftsblatt . September 11, 2011
  4. ↑ This ordinance regulates the nationwide minimum obligation to provide telecommunications services
  5. ^ Telecom scandal - serious allegations against Gorbach . In: News . August 24, 2011
  6. ↑ Telecom affair could widen . In: The Standard . August 25, 2011
  7. ↑ Michael Nikbakhsh & Ulla Kramar-Schmid: Black blue cash registers . In: profile . January 28, 2012
  8. ^ U-Committee: Werber Schmied incriminates BZÖ . In: ORF . February 14, 2012
  9. ↑ Michael Nikbakhsh & Ulla Kramar-Schmid: Valorized . In: profile . January 28, 2012
  10. ^ Telecom scandal - Reichhold also cashed . In: News . August 31, 2011
  11. ↑ Who still cashed from Hochegger . In: News . September 7, 2011
  12. ↑ a b Dominik Sinnreich: New names from Hochegger's sales lists . In: Courier . September 8, 2011
  13. ^ Black-blue-orange affairs . In: The Standard . September 5, 2011
  14. ↑ The somewhat different legacy of black and blue . In: ORF . September 15, 2011
  15. ^ "Falter": Hochegger money transfer for Echomedia? In: ORF . February 14, 2012
  16. ↑ Ulla Kramar-Schmid: US authorities are investigating the Motorola Group and Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly . In: profile . September 3, 2011
  17. ↑ Michael Nikbakhsh & Ulla Kramar-Schmid: Deceptive shots . In: profile . September 10, 2011
  18. ↑ Michael Völker & Nina Weißensteiner: “A couple of freshmen to warm up” . In: The Standard . June 24, 2008
  19. ^ A b Ashwien Sankholkar & Florian Horcicka: Caught in the corruption swamp . In: format . September 5, 2011
  20. ↑ Mikl-Leitner: “Unbearable and a shame” . In: The Standard . October 6, 2011
  21. ↑ Manfred Seeh: Three years imprisonment for lobbyist Mensdorff-Pouilly , Die Presse , December 14, 2015, accessed on December 17, 2014
  22. ↑ 500,000 euros for Austria Kärnten  ( 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. . @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.news.at  In: News . September 7, 2011
  23. ↑ Michael Nikbakhsh & Ulla Kramar-Schmid: "That was useful for Telekom's goals" . In: profile . March 17, 2012
  24. ↑ Andrea Hodoschek: Telekom: Money didn't matter . In: Courier . August 27, 2011
  25. ↑ Andrea Hodoschek: Schlaff: Cross-border commuters with a tendency to risk . In: Courier . September 3, 2011
  26. ^ Courier, September 14, 2011
  27. ↑ From Telekom Telekom I to V . In: Wiener Zeitung . August 9, 2013
  28. ↑ Telekom process goes into second instance . In: The press . March 6, 2013
  29. ↑ Wiener Telekom judge takes a five-week break from negotiations . In: The Standard . 14th of June 2013
  30. ^ Rumpold indictment: FPÖ comes under pressure . In: The press . January 8, 2013
  31. ^ TA: Indictment against Hochegger, Fischer, Wittauer . In: ORF . January 21, 2013
  32. ↑ a b Convictions for Rumpold and Hochegger confirmed , orf.at , 25 November 2015
  33. ↑ Ex-FPÖ advertiser sees "retrospectively" guilt , orf.at , 23 August 2016
  34. ↑ No problem for the current election campaign . In: ORF . September 14, 2013
  35. ^ Final acquittal for ex-board member Fischer in the BZÖ Wiener Zeitung case, September 18, 2013, accessed the following day.
  36. ^ Indictment in the Schillerplatz case is final . In: ORF . August 20, 2013
  37. ↑ Process for inner-city real estate . In: ORF . April 11, 2014
  38. ↑ Wolfgang Schüssel resigns from his mandate and rejects any responsibility . In: The Standard . September 5, 2011
  39. ^ Telecom affair: Schüssel resigns from the National Council . In: The Standard . September 5, 2011