Ex-chancellor Kurz is heavily charged in Ibiza affair – discovered by his closest comrade in arms mass grave of 25 Ethiopian refugees in Malawi

Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is heavily involved in a corruption affair by one of his closest comrades in arms. Thomas Schmid, the former head of the state holding company ÖBAG, had testified for a total of 15 days at the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Economic and Corruption (WKStA) since June, the authority announced in Vienna on Tuesday. According to extracts from the interrogation protocols published by various media outlets, Schmid said Kurz instructed him to distribute the taxpayer-funded polls.

The prosecutor’s office had already investigated the suspicion that Schmid, Kurz and others were involved in a survey affair. Schmid, who also once served as finance minister at the Treasury Department, has now confirmed, according to declassified minutes, that the Treasury Department placed advertisements in a newspaper, which in turn published rigged polls. The investigations were also partly covertly funded by the Ministry of Finance. According to the prosecutor’s office, this construction, known as a “tool”, was developed to pave the way for Kurz to lead the ÖVP party and the office of the chancellor in 2017.

“It is very important for me to emphasize that I only implemented this tool because I was commissioned by Kurz,” said Schmid, according to excerpts from the minutes provided by the public broadcaster ORF and the editor-in-chief of the weekly ” Falter” appeared. Kurz’s attorney Werner Suppan denied the statements. “His allegations are false and that will be proven,” he said.

The investigation of the corruption fighters was triggered by a video that was secretly recorded in Ibiza. In it, the then right-wing leader of the FPÖ, Heinz-Christian Strache, gave the impression that he was for sale. The publication of the video led to the split of the coalition between the conservative Chancellor ÖVP and the FPÖ in 2019.

According to the Public Prosecution Service, Schmid’s statements also led to house searches at two companies on suspicion of bribery, corruption and abuse of office. A major real estate company, which was also searched according to media reports, did not respond to a request from the German news agency. (saw/sda/dpa)