Bribery trial in Wiener Neustadt: Wolf and ex-minister Schelling in court
At the Regional Court in Wiener Neustadt, industrialist Siegfried Wolf and ex-finance minister Hans Jörg Schelling face trial. At the centre: an alleged deal involving 630,000 euros in tax relief.
Bribery allegations involving 630,000 euros: Wolf and Schelling before regional court
Starting Tuesday, three prominent defendants must answer charges before the Regional Court in Wiener Neustadt: industrialist Siegfried Wolf (68), former president of automotive supplier Magna Europa, ex-finance minister Hans Jörg Schelling (72, ÖVP), and a former Lower Austrian finance official. This is reported by diepresse.com citing an extensive indictment from the Economic and Corruption Prosecution Authority (WKStA).
The alleged core of the affair: Wolf is said to have made a "corrupt offer" to former finance office head K. (65). According to the allegations, he wanted to use his contacts in the finance ministry to support K. in her application for a board position at the finance office in Baden – in return, she was to approve his application for tax relief of 630,000 euros. The deal was allegedly arranged at the Guntramsdorf motorway service area.
The allegations against the finance official
K. was head of the Neunkirchen finance office from 2003 – Wolf had his residence there and thus fell within her area of responsibility. On 1 September 2018 she moved to the Baden finance office as a board member. In December 2021 she was suspended from service due to the ongoing criminal proceedings.
The WKStA brings three charges against her. Firstly, she is alleged to have abused her authority in July 2018 to issue tax-related decisions and unlawfully approved Wolf's application for remission of income tax for the years 2006 to 2011 – total amount: 630,000 euros.
Secondly, she is accused of bribery: she accepted an advantage, namely support in applying for the leadership of the Baden finance office.
Thirdly, K. is alleged to have breached her duty of confidentiality by informing Wolf at the end of May and beginning of June 2019 that the tax relief would likely not be upheld – and at the end of June 2019 revealing that the competent finance office had received instructions from the ministry to revoke the remission decision.
Wolf allegedly involved Schmid
The ex-Magna boss is accused of instigation of abuse of office and bribery. Wolf, who most recently appeared as chairman of the supervisory board of Sberbank Europe AG, is alleged to have used his influence with Thomas Schmid on behalf of K. Schmid was initially secretary general in the finance ministry, subsequently sole executive board member of state holding Öbag.
A WhatsApp message that Wolf sent to Schmid is cited in the indictment: "I talked to the lady from Wr. Neustadt. She wants Baden – I told her it's being considered and she should sort out her matter!!"
After Schmid's involvement in several scandals became known, the former senior official applied for crown witness status, which was granted to him after extended review. According to the WKStA, secured chat histories with politicians and business figures provided law enforcement with essential investigation leads – including on the tax matter.
Schelling allegedly intervened after leaving office
Schelling, finance minister from September 2014 to December 2017, is accused of attempted instigation of abuse of office. He is alleged to have called Schmid several times and demanded that he take "partisan" action on behalf of Wolf and his tax matter. According to the indictment, the exact time and place of the alleged offence can "no longer be precisely determined".
As a possible motive, the WKStA cites Wolf's network in Russia: Wolf is alleged to have helped Schelling after his time as minister to obtain a consulting contract with the project company for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. According to the indictment, Schelling was not involved in the alleged agreement between Wolf and K.
Chats that would provide evidence of Schelling's influence were not found. The indictment relies solely on Schmid's statements. The indictment document states: "Even if MMag. Schmid can no longer remember the exact words of Dr. Schelling, he made it clearly apparent that the former finance minister contacted him several times even after the end of his ministerial term on this matter of Ing. Wolf and demanded that he should use his influence on behalf of Ing. Wolf and the tax relief he desired."
Tax law background
The WKStA has also commented on the tax law background. In a statement, the authority notes that the finance office's decision on tax relief had already been reported to the Wiener Neustadt public prosecutor's office by the finance ministry's supervisory authority as allegedly illegal under criminal law before the WKStA investigation began – the proceedings were closed at that time. The chat history now available was not yet known at that point.
All three defendants deny the charges brought against them. It can be assumed that none of them will plead guilty.
Source: Kleine Zeitung