Strache's Former Office Manager Pays Fine: Diversion Instead of Conviction
Due to her confession and previous unblemished record, the woman avoided a conviction. She accepted a fine of 1,350 euros, which already includes the procedural costs.
Once the amount imposed by the court is received in the court account, the charge against Strache's long-time employee will be dismissed. However, the court's decision is not yet legally binding. The prosecutor reserved the right to make a statement for the time being.
The indictment accused the former FPÖ district councilor in Vienna of attempting to induce former FPÖ MP Hans-Jörg Jenewein to make a false statement on June 18, 2020. He was supposed to be questioned as a witness by the Federal Criminal Police Office in the investigation conducted by the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office in connection with the FPÖ expenses affair. According to her statements, Strache's former office manager wanted to persuade Jenewein at a personal meeting to state to the Federal Criminal Police Office that he had attended "political appointments" on behalf of Strache in a Vienna city center restaurant and had billed the incurred expenses as "business meals" with the FPÖ.
Defendant in Vienna Cited "Panic"
However, Jenewein recorded the conversation and subsequently revealed "that none of this is true. He did not bill anything," explained the prosecutor. She admitted, "I asked Jenewein, 'please say you were there in the restaurant. I just wanted him to say he was also there.'" She confessed, "I probably panicked at that moment. I can't explain it any other way."
During the prosecutorial investigations into the expenses affair, 202 invoices from the now-closed city center Italian restaurant, which former chairman Strache apparently frequented, were discovered in the FPÖ accounting. The receipts had been billed as business meals. Strache's former office manager explained to the judge that she "had a pile of invoices on the table" and lost track of which FPÖ member the respective restaurant bills were attributable to. "Everything was thrown on my desk. Everyone came to me on behalf of Mr. Strache and presented something," described the long-time Strache employee. She eventually "panicked, thinking people might believe I was dining there. I thought I had to find someone who would say they were there."
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.