Karl-Heinz Grasser - Corruption Allegations

Corruption Allegations

Meanwhile, in January 2011, new and continuing investigations by Austrian district attorneys into suspicions of kickback schemes and backroom deals and, in certain cases, alleged manipulation of federal spending figures to syphon money to his allies have brought Grasser in front of the Austrian media once more. These reports have been spearheaded by the Vienna weekly Der Falter. More details on the allegations can be found on Wikipedia in German. Grasser maintains his innocence on all counts.

Regardless of the outcome of the large number of court cases filed by district attorneys against Grasser and by Grasser against individuals), it seems clear that his public image as the "new-and-squeaky-clean" politician of a new era has been tarnished once and for all. After Green MP Gabriela Moser and Falter published transcripts of police recordings of Grasser's telephone conversations with one of his friends, Walter Meischberger, in which Meischberger could not describe the services for which he was paid hundreds of thousands of euros by the Porr construction company, the phrase "Was war meine Leistung?" (What was my service ?) entered popular usage. Falter arranged a public reading of the transcripts by a group of comedians.<

In Austrian quality newspapers, Grasser's case is now seen as a test of credibility for the Austrian judicial system:the legal protection from prosecution of former politicians is confronted with rumours about Grasser's alleged quagmire of corruption. It will be seen if the Austrian judicial system is up to the task. At present, in an interview by Grasser with the Austrian radio station Ö1 on 22 January 2011,", Grasser said. Instead, he is suing a number of people and announcing that he will sue others.

On 5 May 2011, new allegations have to come to light. The magazine Format quotes from police reports that Grasser, between 2005 and 2007 during his tenure as finance minister of the Republic of Austria, on three occasions personally carried "cases of cash" from Switzerland to Austria. Grasser said that the money was given to him, in cash, by his future mother in law, heiress to the Swarovski Crystal company, a claim she denies.

On May 26, 2011, Austrian Finance police searched ten of Grasser's private and business dwellings on suspicion of embezzling up to 3 million euro from the Austrian tax system during and after his time as finance minister. Finance police removed 35 boxes of files, computers and mobile phones. If found guilty, Grasser would face up to ten years in federal prison, would have to pay back the money and face hefty fines in the million euro range (as a percentage of the non-declared income). Grasser, who was abroad at the time of the searches, maintains his innocence. Delivering messages via his attorney to the Austrian media, Grasser describes the case as a "politically motivated act".

As of 27 May 2011, the Austrian judiciary has not launched a court challenge against Grasser. Already, this affair has become one of the most opaque and dubious money and embezzlement schemes in the public eye. Grasser is presumed to be innocent unless proved guilty.