OGH Decision on Detention for Karl-Heinz Grasser
The federal apartments were sold for 961 million euros to a consortium around Immofinanz managed by Karl Petrikovics. The losing bidder, CA Immo, offered only 1 million euros less. It later emerged that two close associates of Grasser, Walter Meischberger and Peter Hochegger, received a commission of 9.6 million euros for the deal.
Karl-Heinz Grasser Initially Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison
The question was: Did Grasser reveal to his friends, who advised Immofinanz, how high the bid needed to be to win the contract, thereby damaging the Republic? The former finance minister denies this verbosely to this day, but he is heavily incriminated by Hochegger. During the 168-day Buwog trial, Hochegger accused Grasser of working on a plan to illegally enrich himself at the expense of the Republic. In December 2020, the initial verdict was issued at the Vienna Regional Criminal Court, sentencing Grasser to eight years, Meischberger to seven, and Hochegger to six years in prison. All three appealed the verdict, and on Thursday, the former friends will meet again at the Supreme Court at Vienna's Schmerlingplatz. Unusually long, a full four days, have been scheduled for the appeal proceedings by the Supreme Court. Whether they will actually be needed will depend, among other things, on how extensively the defendants' lawyers exercise their right to speak. In the criminal proceedings, Grasser's lawyer Norbert Wess, in particular, took a very detailed position. Grasser also made extensive use of his right to speak. No new evidence will be presented. The rapporteur of the five-judge panel will first outline the previous course of the proceedings, after which the defense lawyers will present their appeals. Then the representation of the General Prosecutor's Office will have its say, before the defendants have the opportunity to address any final words to the panel.
Grasser's Criticism of the Verdict
After the verdict in December 2020, Grasser spoke of a "clear miscarriage of justice" and a "political verdict." Meischberger accused Judge Marion Hohenecker of bias. Both former politicians announced at the time that they would go to the European Court of Justice. In the meantime, Judge Hohenecker has also changed jobs and now works for the Economic and Corruption Prosecutor's Office (WKStA). A good 13 months after the initial verdict in the Grasser trial, the written verdict was available in January 2022. It comprised nearly 1,300 pages. The Supreme Court is not only concerned with the Buwog case but also with the leasing of the financial authorities in the Linz Terminal Tower, where, according to the initial court ruling, an illegal commission of 200,000 euros was paid by the construction consortium around Porr and RLB OÖ to Grasser and Co. In total, the initial verdict included eight convictions and six acquittals. Former Immofinanz board member Christian Thornton and five other defendants were fully acquitted.
Supreme Court Decision: Does Karl-Heinz Grasser Have to Go to Prison?
The Supreme Court has several options in the Buwog/Terminal Tower Linz case: It could dismiss the appeals and confirm the verdicts along with the sentences, it could also overturn the verdicts and order a retrial. Alternatively, the Supreme Court could confirm part of the verdicts and overturn other parts. Ultimately, the panel of judges could also confirm the initial court's verdicts but reduce the sentences. If the conviction and sentence hold, the defendants will receive a summons to begin serving their sentences. After serving half of the sentence, in Grasser's case after four years, the former top politician could apply for early conditional release. After serving three years, he could apply for an electronic ankle monitor. What is often overlooked: The proceedings are not only about the severity of the sentence but also about compensating for the damage of the nearly one billion euro Buwog deal. In the case of CA Immo, which narrowly lost the bid for the Buwog apartments, the company was referred to civil court by the Vienna Regional Criminal Court.
(APA/Red)
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