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Defense Minister Tanner: Other legal measures are currently being examined.
7.13 pm, November 13, 2020
The Ministry of Defense incurred costs of seven million euros for the interrupted Eurofighter proceedings. The defense minister gave it Klaudia tanner (ÖVP) according to parliamentary correspondence on Friday in the budget committee. Following the decision of the Vienna Higher Regional Court to suspend the proceedings, further legal measures are now being examined, Tanner confirmed.
Apart from the interrupted fraud proceedings against Airbus, investigations by the Economic and Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA) continue. It is about infidelity, money laundering and bribery in the acquisition and counter-trade of the aircraft. In some cases, however, the Eurofighter production company is even a victim, while in the fraud proceedings it found itself in the role of possible perpetrator.
“Bitter for the taxpayer”
The Republic of Austria attempted a fraud procedure which, in the opinion of the Financial Prosecutor’s Office, was carried out improperly To recover part of the purchase priceby appearing as a joint plaintiff in the process. In an interview with Kleine Zeitung, the chairman of the Financial Prosecutor said: Wolfgang Peschorn: “In the investigation committee, some of those affected by these payment flows admitted to having received funds. Obviously, this was not a problem for the Higher Regional Court. And in Germany, too, the lid is now closed after the agreement of the fine. That the payment flows have not yet been clarified definitely is bitter for taxpayers. “
WKStA investigations into fraud proceedings, for which the Financial Prosecutor’s Office presented extensive evidence, were extremely slow. According to the defense of the WKStA, numerous suspects and witnesses have been questioned in the other processes since the Vienna prosecutor took over the case in February 2019. 60 suspects are being investigated and an investigation team composed of four prosecutors and an economic expert. How much longer is it open. Accounts were opened, 15 new requests for legal assistance were made, European investigation orders were issued and the special commission created in the Federal Criminal Police Office was hired. Since then, it alone has submitted 35 reports to the WKStA.
International and komplex
The main Eurofighter case, which primarily affects payment flows from aircraft manufacturer EADS to Vector Aerospace (the company had transferred counter-trade obligations to the mailbox company, presumably to remove all control over processing), is being carried out carried out against 42 known suspects. Suspecting money laundering, (more) requests for legal assistance were continuously made to trace the payment flows of the Vector network and European investigation orders were issued. As the WKStA emphasized, the results depend on the responses of the requested states, but also on the solution of complex legal questions.
Compensation trade
When it comes to counterattacks, investigations are carried out for serious fraud attempts and bribery payments to counterparties. A detailed examination was carried out on hundreds of individual transactions with a filing volume of around € 4.9 billion. Upon completion of the prosecution, a total of five project reports have been submitted to the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office since April 2020. Investigations of one of the accused are still ongoing.
Another fact about the accusations of breach of trust and bribery concerns the payment streams at City Chambers. To this end, a project report was submitted a few weeks ago to the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office. In this context, a process of handover abroad of a defendant is being carried out.
