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Der angeklagte Lobbyist Peter Hochegger belastete einmal mehr Ex-Finanzminister Karl-Heinz Grasser.
© HANS PUNZ
Vienna, Linz – On the 161st day of Grasser’s trial, things went very fast today. The first acquittal in the ongoing process took place first, although the charges against Telekom-Valora were not included. And then the accused lobbyist Peter Hochegger took the floor and incriminated former finance minister Karl-Heinz Grasser, whom he accused of constant falsehoods. Hochegger had made a partial confession at the beginning of the trial in December 2017.
The prosecution had already made explanations difficult for Grasser. She featured a newspaper article that Grasser was photographed at a partnership event with Meischberger and co-defendant real estate agent Ernst Karl Plech. Before that, Grasser had always claimed not to have been present at this golf tournament. The prosecution suspects that Grasser Meischberger has announced that Immofinanz would have to shell out more than 960 million euros for Buwog to win the bidding process, which Grasser denies. Today he restricted his information to the fact that he did not meet with Meischberger during the relevant period. Because the presentation of the bids for the federal apartments was the day before the golf tournament.
Grasser was very silent during the questioning of prosecutors, but responded in detail to questions from Judge Marion Hohenecker. He accuses the Economic and Corruption Prosecutor’s Office of having investigated him unilaterally. Around 100 people would have known the figure of 960 million euros, namely those involved in CA Immo, Bank Austria and the Ministry of Finance. Grasser rejected the prosecution’s claim that he was the only one who knew this number and passed it on. “The prosecutor says that I would have been the only idiot among all those who know, because I would have been the only one to see that as an upper limit,” said the defendant indignantly when he made his statement in the grand jury of the Vienna criminal court.
Hochegger: “Grandmaster at putting aside truths”
So Hochegger spoke up and responded to Grasser, who accused him of lying since his partial confession. His former business partner is a “great master at putting aside the truths, combined with distortions and attacks,” Hochegger told the Vienna Regional Criminal Court. There were no agreements between his former lawyer and the economic and corruption prosecutor, Hochegger stressed in response to Grasser’s accusations. This was recently confirmed by a parliamentary question to the Department of Justice. It concerns a meeting of Meischberger’s former attorney with the WKStA in 2016. At that time, the attorney informed the prosecutor that he, Hochegger, would help establish the truth.
Hochegger reaffirmed today that in the fall of 2005 a Liechtenstein bank adviser, Christoph W., told him that the money from the Buwog commission in Liechtenstein would be divided equally between Grasser, Meischberger and Ernst Plech. He showed him a slip of paper with the three names of the accounts. He reported it to his attorney at the time in 2014. Hochegger today filed an affidavit from his former attorney, who confirmed this conversation in 2014.
In the Telekom case, part of Grasser’s trial, a shocking, non-legally binding verdict was reached today. The defendant former Telekom Austria manager and former ÖVP organizing officer Michael F. has been acquitted of the money laundering charge by the senate jury. The reason was that he had no knowledge of the alleged money laundering. The prosecution did not comment after the sentence, which means that it is not yet final. For the other three defendants in the Telekom case, Meischberger, Hochegger and former Telekom board member Rudolf Fischer, the proceeding continues.
Michael F. used to be the organizer of the ÖVP and later head of “Public Affairs” at Telekom Austria. According to the indictment, he is said to have arranged for 120,000 euro worth of advertising and public relations agency bills to be paid via Telekom via Peter Hochegger’s Valora, which, however, were not matched by any Telekom service. Instead, they were Telekom donations to political parties. It was the invoice of 96,000 euros from the White House agency for the election campaign of the young ÖVP in 2008, which Valora paid with money from Telekom. In addition, it was funds for the electoral campaign of former ÖVP deputy Karin Hakl.
Witness Burkhard Graf, summoned for today, apologized for illness. Grasser’s “voting uncle” had made an affidavit that Grasser had told him at the end of 2005 that he had received € 500,000 from his mother-in-law.
The process will continue on Wednesday with file readings. (WHAT)
