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The indictment accuses the defendants of corruption in the 2004 federal housing privatization. The then Finance Minister Grasser is said to have relayed secret information and collected a € 9.6 million commission for it. At the Terminal Tower in Linz, a bribe of 200,000 euros was paid for the tax authorities to move to the office building. In addition, a charge against Telekom Austria’s black cash registers in Peter Hochegger’s Valora-Gesellschaft and a charge against Walter Meischberger for fraud in the sale of his house were integrated into the mega lawsuit.
The first defendant, Karl-Heinz Grasser, opened the “last words” round, as it is called in legal German. He was innocent and as finance minister he had always had the interests of the republic in mind. Former political star in Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel’s (ÖVP) government expressed high praise for the conduct of the court proceedings, especially for Judge Hohenecker.
Grasser also thanked the co-defendants who had not taken the easy route to falsely accuse him and who had not given in to “pressure” from the prosecution. Co-defendant and partially confessed ex-lobbyist Peter Hochegger, on the other hand, gave false statements, according to Grasser. The privatization of federal apartments and the leasing at Linz Terminal Tower were legal. The testimony had fully confirmed that he had done nothing wrong, that he had not passed on any information or accepted money.
Later, Meischberger made his last statement in the process and also thanked the court for the fair conduct of the negotiations. Despite all the “crooked optics,” he acted legally and performed all services correctly. “No one can give me eleven years of my life back, not even the court, but maybe my reputation,” Meischberger said. He asked the court for a fair trial and acquittal of all charges.
The former owner of the public relations agency Hochegger, however, has reconfirmed his partial confession in his “last words.” He was involved in a “biotope of corruption” between business and politics. “In a biotope of corruption in which a few constantly gain advantages at the expense of the general public.” You are glad you found the courage to address your contribution in this system and call things by their names. Hochegger indicted Grasser and Meischberger in the process and stated that Grasser had also collected the Buwog commission.
Former Immofinanz chief Karl Petrikovics and former RLB-OÖ board member Georg Starzer traded mutual accusations in their “last words”. Both were part of the victorious Austrian consortium when the federal apartments were privatized. While Petrikovics claims that Raiffeisen Upper Austria also participated in the consulting contract with Hochegger and paid the millions in commission, Starzer strongly denied this. The two former managers only agree that they did not even know the first defendant Grasser. Therefore, both requested acquittal.
Former Immofinanz manager Christian Thornton also protested his innocence. He did not know the reason for the Buwog commission and was never given the background. He acted on the instructions of his supervisor at the time, Petrikovics, processed the payments and never had any doubts about the legality of the order, for which he requested acquittal.
Rudolf Fischer, a former member of the Telekom Austria board of directors, who is partially in the process, emphasized that he always had the welfare of the company in mind. “I never wanted to harm the company.” He had confessed some cases that they were excessive, the rest of the payments to politicians were conditioned by the environment and were always in the interest of Telekom. Therefore, ask for a soft judgment.
Very few “last words” were spoken by the five defendants at the Terminal Tower office building in Linz. They are innocent and have not committed corruption, they assured.
Walter Meischberger’s former attorney, Gerald Toifl, who was a co-defendant, spoke some more. Like many other defendants, he couldn’t say it had nothing to do with Grasser. “He was at my house,” he confirmed, but at the time, after the Buwog commission payment to Peter Hochegger and Meischberger came in the fall of 2009, he was happy that Grasser had explained the privatization of federal apartments to him. The knowledge Grasser had learned was important to the disclosure of Meischberger, whom he was representing as an attorney at the time.
For the also absent Swiss financial adviser Norbert Wicki, his lawyer Herbert Eichenseder took the floor. Wicki was in Dubai and was unable to come to Austria due to Corona’s travel restrictions, his lawyer said yesterday. The lawyer said that yesterday he reviewed the file and found testimony that confirmed his client’s statements that he had received a loan from Grasser’s mother-in-law, Marina Giori-Lhota.
At 10.50 a.m., Hohenecker closed the main hearing after nearly three years of litigation. He fired the three alternate judges and the alternate judge, who were present at the main hearing the entire time, so that the trial would not open. Because two professional judges and two lay judges are necessary for a trial. The jury withdrew to deliberate. The verdict will not be before November.
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