Shortly after Ibiza

Gudenus knew early on: “Scabby Russian” was Latvian

New chats show that Gudenus is said to have known around a month after the night in Ibiza that the "scabby Russian" actually had a Latvian passport. However, the Ibiza scandal only became public more than a year and a half later. 

The accusations made against him in the course of the espionage affair are "nothing new" for former FPÖ party chairman Johann Gudenus. However, what is probably completely new, at least for many Austrians, is that Gudenus must have already known around a month after the internationally publicized evening in the villa on Ibiza that the - to quote Heinz-Christian Strache - "scabby Russian" was actually Latvian.

The "Krone" has access to the chats between the former FPÖ party leader and his middle man Florian Stermann (see chats).

Gudenus had decoy tested
Gudenus had the decoy's name checked and received a negative result - i.e. indirectly the message that there is no one with this name. This is probably why he asked for the passport of the alleged oligarch's niece and received the answer "Latvia". Just a few weeks after the boozy evening, this must have given the blue man a headache.

Despite the false name and cover identity, the "niece" probably actually has a Latvian passport. She is also known to have been tracked down in Riga. Gudenus was therefore aware of at least one deceptive maneuver at least early on after the Ibiza evening. Nevertheless, the Ibiza scam only came to light later.