Trial in December

Former city leader Luger goes on trial for embezzlement

The Mayor of Linz, Klaus Luger (SPÖ), will have to stand trial in December.(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

The public prosecutor's office is bringing charges against the former mayor of Linz, Klaus Luger (SPÖ). The charge is embezzlement. The proceedings are concerned with whether the Linzer Veranstaltungsgesellschaft (LIVA) suffered financial damage as a result of Luger's false statements. The "Krone" reached out to his lawyer.

As a reminder: in August 2024, Luger resigned after chat logs revealed that he had slipped the hearing documents with all the questions to Dietmar Kerschbaum, who later became head of the Brucknerhaus, and had thus influenced the application process. The trial, which is scheduled for December 12, revolves around a special legal opinion. This was commissioned by Luger himself in the course of the Brucknerhaus affair and was intended to derive recommendations and measures following the hearing scandal.

Luger had concealed his role in the case - i.e. passing it on to Kerschbaum - from the experts. Now the court must clarify what effect this circumstance had on the entire legal opinion. According to the indictment, it could have been commissioned primarily in Luger's interests. In contrast, the investigations into the disclosure of the hearing documents and the costs for a later crisis PR manager who advised Luger are off the table - the investigations were closed.

Irrespective of whether or not my client's actions ultimately have a criminal dimension, he stands by his actions and regards them as a mistake for many reasons.

René Haumer, Lugers Rechtsanwalt

Proceedings should be discontinued
According to well-informed sources, the Linz public prosecutor's office wanted to discontinue the entire proceedings against Luger at the end of April, and the senior public prosecutor's office agreed to this request. However, the Ministry of Justice issued instructions to continue the proceedings - probably due to the political sensitivity of the case. The penalty range is up to three years' imprisonment. The costs for the legal opinion amount to around 19,000 euros gross. In the event of a conviction, Luger would have to pay these as well as the legal costs.

What Luger's lawyer says about the charges
Luger's lawyer, René Haumer, confirmed the criminal complaint to the "Krone" newspaper. The criminal assessment of this matter is proving to be complex, as the legal opinion nevertheless makes predominantly valuable statements for LIVA. Haumer: "The question of whether we are actually dealing with embezzlement here will therefore have to be answered by the court. Irrespective of whether or not my client's actions ultimately have a criminal dimension, he stands by his actions and considers them to be a mistake for many reasons. Klaus Luger has not denied this to the prosecuting authorities from the outset."

ÖVP deputy mayor hopes for complete clarification
After the indictment became known, ÖVP deputy mayor Martin Hajart was the first to speak out via a press release: "With the court proceedings against former mayor Luger, there is hope that the LIVA scandal will finally be fully investigated. It is still not known how much damage the LIVA scandal has actually caused the city. After all, the city of Linz had to pay an additional EUR 1.8 million to LIVA." Possible damages from the lawsuits filed by the former managing director have not even been taken into account. The question now is whether the City of Linz will join the proceedings as an aggrieved private party.