• About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
VOPAM
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • World
  • Store
    • Shop
    • Cart
    • Checkout
    • My account
    • Wishlist
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • World
  • Store
    • Shop
    • Cart
    • Checkout
    • My account
    • Wishlist
No Result
View All Result
VOPAM
No Result
View All Result
Home World

Austrian ex-finance minister Grasser bags eight years for corruption

vopam by vopam
December 4, 2020
in World
2 min read
0
Austrian ex-finance minister Grasser bags eight years for corruption

A Vienna court on Friday sentenced a former Austrian finance minister, Karl-Heinz Grasser, to eight years in prison in the country’s biggest corruption trial since World War II.

Grasser was found guilty of abuse of power and involvement in kickbacks totalling 9.6 million euros ($11.7 million) over the sale of state-owned apartments.

During the trial, a co-defendant, who was also best man at Grasser’s wedding, admitted passing on insider information enabling a consortium to buy 60,000 government-owned flats for 961 million euros, one million euros more than a rival bidder.

Just three years later, the consortium valued the apartments at about double the price.

Grasser, who as finance minister had decided to sell the flats and knew of the bids, and his co-defendants received kickbacks totalling 9.6 million euros.

“Only Grasser could have passed on information” to the winning consortium, judge Marion Hohenecker said.

She rejected a claim by a co-defendant that the relevant information had come from Joerg Haider, the controversial former head of the far-right Freedom Party who died in 2008 and who had himself faced multiple corruption allegations.

– ‘Very far-fetched’ –

During his time in office, Grasser, now 51, frequently graced the tabloids with his wife, the heir to the Swarovski crystal empire.

At the time the one-time Haider protege was seen as a political star with a possible future as chancellor.

Heinz Mayr, former head of the law faculty at Vienna University who has followed the trial, said the defendants’ attempts to explain the events surrounding the deal at times seemed “very far-fetched”.

“There were a lot of inconsistencies that could not be explained,” he told AFP.

One of these explanations, highlighted in the verdict, was Grasser’s claim that the 500,000 euros he had deposited in cash at Vienna’s Meinl Bank — which filed for bankruptcy this year after it was accused of laundering more than $500 million euros — had been gifted to him by his mother-in-law.

His mother-in-law denied this and prosecutors were able to prove that he had not met her in Switzerland at the time he said she handed over the cash.

The case, which has attracted major media interest in the wealthy EU country, involved 14 defendants facing an array of charges including breach of trust, bribery, taking kickbacks, falsifying evidence, money laundering and fraud.

The case also touched on alleged corrupt payments related to the renting of an office block in the city of Linz.

The verdict was based on hundreds of witness statements as well as tapped telephone calls in which one of the defendants wonders how he could reasonably explain receiving hundreds of thousands of euros to the prosecution.

Grasser, along with several defendants who were also found guilty, will appeal, his lawyer said.

Share this:

  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)

Related

Previous Post

UN just removed cannabis from list of world’s most dangerous drugs

Next Post

Juventus star Ronaldo picks up where he left off at Camp Nou by setting new record

vopam

vopam

Related Posts

German health minister defends European solution to vaccine orders
World

German health minister defends European solution to vaccine orders

December 30, 2020
3
Biden says Trump administration’s vaccine plan is ‘far behind’
World

Biden says Trump administration’s vaccine plan is ‘far behind’

December 30, 2020
1
Britain will now be a ‘best friend and ally’ to EU, says Johnson
World

Britain will now be a ‘best friend and ally’ to EU, says Johnson

December 30, 2020
1
Trump campaign files Supreme Court challenge over Wisconsin
World

Trump campaign files Supreme Court challenge over Wisconsin

December 30, 2020
0
Chile finds new coronavirus variant in traveller from London
World

Chile finds new coronavirus variant in traveller from London

December 30, 2020
2
British regulator authorizes use of AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine
World

British regulator authorizes use of AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine

December 30, 2020
2
France plans to tighten evening curfew in hard-hit areas
World

France plans to tighten evening curfew in hard-hit areas

December 30, 2020
2
IHRC calls for independent inquiry into the abduction and mysterious death of Karima Baloch
World

IHRC calls for independent inquiry into the abduction and mysterious death of Karima Baloch

December 30, 2020
3
Next Post
Juventus star Ronaldo picks up where he left off at Camp Nou by setting new record

Juventus star Ronaldo picks up where he left off at Camp Nou by setting new record

Kagame urges citizens to support Rwanda’s first cardinal

Kagame urges citizens to support Rwanda's first cardinal

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Stay Connected test

  • 79 Followers
  • 33k Followers
  • 56.2k Subscribers
  • 22.9k Followers
  • 99 Subscribers
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Football Players In Germany Go Naked In Artist Protest

Football Players In Germany Go Naked In Artist Protest

August 17, 2020
Mahama Will Be Free From Tracey Boakye’s Blackmail, Threats For Properties Soon — Gloria Kani [Video]

Mahama Will Be Free From Tracey Boakye’s Blackmail, Threats For Properties Soon — Gloria Kani [Video]

August 13, 2020
Nigerian Prophet TB Joshua Releases Prophecy For Donald Trump

Nigerian Prophet TB Joshua Releases Prophecy For Donald Trump

August 28, 2020
Police probe Argyll Ballet West school abuse allegations

Police probe Argyll Ballet West school abuse allegations

August 20, 2020
Sudan protests activist’s torture and killing

Sudan protests activist’s torture and killing

0
Agona East District records first COVID-19 case

Agona East District records first COVID-19 case

0
Adjust to live with novel coronavirus – Health Minister

Adjust to live with novel coronavirus – Health Minister

0
Hotel refuses accommodation to health workers over GH¢ 219,000 debt

Hotel refuses accommodation to health workers over GH¢ 219,000 debt

0
Sudan protests activist’s torture and killing

Sudan protests activist’s torture and killing

December 31, 2020
Year in Review: Breakdown of major talking points from the sports industry

Year in Review: Breakdown of major talking points from the sports industry

December 31, 2020
Prominent Ivory Coast opposition figure released from prison

Prominent Ivory Coast opposition figure released from prison

December 31, 2020
German health minister defends European solution to vaccine orders

German health minister defends European solution to vaccine orders

December 30, 2020

Recent News

Sudan protests activist’s torture and killing

Sudan protests activist’s torture and killing

December 31, 2020
0
Year in Review: Breakdown of major talking points from the sports industry

Year in Review: Breakdown of major talking points from the sports industry

December 31, 2020
3
Prominent Ivory Coast opposition figure released from prison

Prominent Ivory Coast opposition figure released from prison

December 31, 2020
2
German health minister defends European solution to vaccine orders

German health minister defends European solution to vaccine orders

December 30, 2020
3
Facebook Twitter Youtube Instagram
VOPAM

Follow Us

Browse by Category

  • Africa (752)
  • Business (482)
  • Entertainment (410)
  • Local News (351)
  • News (2,119)
  • Politics (383)
  • Sports (503)
  • uncategorized (70)
  • World (314)

Recent News

Sudan protests activist’s torture and killing

Sudan protests activist’s torture and killing

December 31, 2020
Year in Review: Breakdown of major talking points from the sports industry

Year in Review: Breakdown of major talking points from the sports industry

December 31, 2020

© 2020 Voice of Pan African Media. All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result

© 2020 Voice of Pan African Media. All Rights Reserved