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Karl-Heinz Grasser was Austria’s Finance Minister, a member of Jörg Haider’s “Buberlpartie” and a boulevard favorite. A court in Vienna has convicted the 51-year-old man of infidelity.
Destructive verdict: Karl-Heinz Grasser at the Vienna State Criminal Court.
Photo: Keystone
It is considered one of the most important corruption processes in Austria. And it ended on Friday in Vienna with a thunderclap for the main defendant: Karl-Heinz Grasser, Austria’s finance minister for many years, is sentenced to eight years in prison for infidelity. The judge also announced long-term prison sentences for lobbyists and businessmen Walter Meischberger and Peter Hochegger who were co-defendants.
It took more than a decade to come to terms with the so-called Buwog affair, the process was only three years. These were the accusations of millionaire bribery payments, which should have arisen in 2004 with the privatization of the Buwog housing company and thus 60,000 state-owned apartments.
At that time, the winning bidders paid Meischberger and Hochegger € 9.6 million, one percent of the purchase price. According to the indictment, when the tax authorities rented an office building in Linz, another 200,000 euros were paid in commission. According to the indictment, it was a bribe to Grasser and his partners who, in return, are said to have passed important information on to the winning bidders.
Liechtenstein account for commission
A role in the affair also played 500,000 euros, which Grasser, as finance minister at the time, paid in cash at a bank. He claimed that he received the money in Switzerland from his mother-in-law and then brought it to Austria. Later, however, the money flowed into the account in Liechtenstein, to which part of the Buwog commission flowed. The prosecutor saw this as proof that Grasser won part of the commission. This rejected all the accusations.
A picture of better days: Karl-Heinz Grasser married crystal heiress Fiona Swarovski in 2005.
Photo: Keystone
The case also shed light on the conditions in the first ÖVP / FPÖ governments from 2000 to 2006. The ÖVP Chancellor at the time was Wolfgang Schüssel, who, along with Jörg Haider’s FPÖ troop, dedicated himself to “renewing Austria” . Grasser, who was one of Haider’s legendary “Buberlpartie” for young men, went first for the FPÖ and then did not take on the role of finance minister.
Newly called KHG in the media, Grasser was considered an exceptional political talent with a glamor factor. His marriage to Fiona Swarovski, the heir to the crystal company, eventually made him a boulevard darling. Today he lives in seclusion on a farm near Kitzbühel. According to his own statements in court, he has no job, no home or car.
“Those who do business honestly do not need accounts in Liechtenstein.”
The verdicts against him are now devastating: the court considers it proven that Grasser caused damage to the Republic of Austria by infidelity, acceptance of gifts and falsification of evidence. He abused his political function, violated real estate interests and did not fulfill his obligations as Minister of Finance. “Those who do business honestly do not need accounts in Liechtenstein,” the judge said.
The verdicts are not final, Grasser’s attorney announced an appeal.
