44,000 euro fine

“There has never been so much incriminating material”

ÖVP party leader Wöginger accepted the diversion offer on Tuesday.(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

All the defendants shook hands on the accusation of abuse of office and so the mega-trial against VP Club Chairman and two high-ranking VP-affiliated tax officials turned into a short trial. After the two officials had accepted responsibility in writing, "Black Gust" surprised everyone with a substantive confession: "I'm sorry for what I caused back then." A diversion was accepted, Wöginger has to pay 44,000 euros.

"An independent court will pass judgment," said Wöginger in front of the jury courtroom before the presiding judge of the jury senate, Melanie Halbig, called the proceedings to order at 10.01 am. Just over an hour later, the economic and corruption prosecutor's office filed a motion to interrupt the proceedings.

As the judge held out the prospect of diversion after accepting responsibility, the prosecutors deliberated as it was "a borderline case". The private party representative, Wolfgang Mayrhofer, was clearly against diversion: "Diversion in the case of abuse of office in connection with false testimony is actually unthinkable." But he has no right to make a motion and said during the trial: "Then I won't say anything."

"Different understanding of politics back then"
While the two main defendants referred to their written submissions, Wöginger had previously taken responsibility verbally: he was "very sorry" for what he had caused and would "not do it again today". However, the understanding of politics was different back then - "that is not an excuse, but an explanation". In other words, it was customary to stand up for fellow party members. However, the appointment of the mayor as the new head of the tax office was "not an important concern" for him. "If I had known what this would entail, I would have acted differently," said the VP party leader, who then reported "heavy burdens in the professional and family environment" due to the three years of investigative activities.

I'm glad that's the end of it for me.

ÖVP-Klubobmann August Wöginger in einem Statement nach dem Prozess

Bild: APA/FOTOKERSCHI.AT

"Post haggling is played down"
In the opening statement, the prosecutors, Chief Public Prosecutor Georg Kasinger and Roland Koch, had said: "Post hacking is being played down and trivialized as a free-for-all" and: "There has never been so much incriminating material." It was alleged that Wöginger (50), as a designated perpetrator, had pressured two VP party members - a trade unionist and the then head of the Austrian tax office - to make a VP mayor friend of his the head of the Braunau tax office. Shortly before, the latter had been rejected in an application for the Freistadt tax office and the commission member who had ensured this was replaced during the appointment procedure in the Innviertel. As a result, the tax official who had headed the tax office on an interim basis since 2016 lost the hearing. Although she would objectively have been the better choice. This was established by a lawsuit filed by the Federal Administrative Court in 2021.

Impact of the Ibiza scandal
The chat logs of the Ibiza scandal brought the alleged hanky-panky to light after the losing candidate had already filed charges against her two superiors. Following the mayor's request to "put in a good word", Wöginger had intervened with the then Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance, Thomas Schmid. According to the Public Prosecutor's Office for Economic Affairs and Corruption, there was "no objective justification for his support". 

Former Secretary General as key witness
Thomas Schmid, who should have testified as a key witness in the eleven-day trial, is said to have spoken to the head of the tax office about the composition of the commission and also exerted influence to ensure that "the right person" got the top job. And the trade unionist approved the procedure and is therefore also on trial. 

When the evaluation committee met in February 2017, the 60-year-old tax official wrote to the then Secretary General Schmid: "Hi! with belly ache - but:", accompanied by a thumbs-up emoji. Reply from Thomas Schmid: "My hero!"

Written evidence in the chat
Schmid then wrote to Wöginger just 53 seconds later: "We did it :-)). The mayor owes you one!" According to the indictment, Wöginger was "totally happy". The then Secretary General of Finance also informed his superior, the then ÖVP Finance Minister Hans Jörg Schelling, that Wöginger's "intervention" had been successful.

"Tangible sanctions"
 Until shortly before the start of the trial, all three defendants pleaded not guilty. Eleven trial days with 31 witnesses were planned for the proceedings. Thanks to the "acceptance of responsibility" of all defendants, the trial was significantly shortened thanks to an offer of diversion by the judge. The public prosecutor agreed, but demanded "noticeable sanctions" as this was an "absolute borderline case". Although there had been "at first glance a not inconsiderable damage to the law", there were a number of things in favor of the defendants: they had "behaved well since then", the victim had "not suffered any significant loss of salary" and "only a less suitable, not completely unsuitable candidate had been appointed". In addition, the first and second defendants had already suffered disciplinary consequences or would still have to expect them.

Diversion not yet fixed in any case
In Wöginger's case, "an honest inner conversion" had been noticed as a result of his statement. However, the decision of the public prosecutors to agree to diversion is not legally binding. A report must be submitted and an appeal can still be lodged. The case then goes to the Higher Regional Court.

Now the first defendant has to pay 17,000 euros, the second defendant 22,000 euros and Wöginger 44,000 euros. These sums also include the costs of the proceedings. In addition, each defendant must pay 500 euros as a symbolic amount to the candidate who was passed over for the management of the tax office. All three nodded in acceptance of the offer. The representative of the but-not-financial-office-head took note of the verdict, but reserved the right to file a civil suit if his client so wished.