"Krone" commentary

Christoph W.’s fall from grace is deeper than suspected

(Bild: stock.adobe.com, Krone KREATIV)

The accusations against former WK president Christoph Walser, who was once considered the "crown prince", are serious and cause head-shaking, as Claus Meinert, editor-in-chief of the "Tiroler Krone", writes.

The deep fall of Christoph Walser was written about here some time ago. Now, almost a year later, it turns out that the case of the former president of the Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce is much deeper than feared. The allegations are far more serious than expected.

In addition to tax evasion, Walser is also accused of defamation, falsification of evidence and giving false evidence. According to the investigations by the public prosecutor's office, it is assumed that taxes and duties amounting to more than 1.1 million euros have been evaded. According to his lawyer, the Thaurer has already confessed to the tax and duty evasion. He will find it difficult to refute the rest of the accusations. Above all, the fact that he denounced two of his employees in order to portray himself as a "victim" says a lot.

Bigger buns for "Sunnyboy" and "Crown Prince"
After the Innsbruck municipal elections at the end of April, Walser was in the middle of the election party for the winner Johannes Anzengruber. Cheered. Rumors quickly spread that the newly crowned mayor of Innsbruck could bake even bigger rolls with "Sunnyboy" Walser. After all, the man from Thaur undoubtedly has a lot of what a politician needs these days: a smart, always in a good mood, quick-witted and eloquent.

Admittedly, he sometimes took the latter quality too far. Repeatedly treated as the "crown prince" by the then LH Platter, he has leaned too far too often - even against Platter.

Walser has often seen himself as a "victim"
His unsuccessful coronavirus appearance on ZIB 2 on 7 February 2021 will be remembered, when Walser threatened, after a complete lockdown of Tyrol was on the cards: "If anything at all comes out of the Ministry of Health tomorrow, they'll really get to know us on Monday."

A wave of indignation followed and Walser was suddenly the bogeyman. He said at the time that he had been "run in" and saw himself as a "victim". Just as he saw himself as a "victim" according to initial reports on the current case. The public prosecutor's office, however, sees things completely differently