In two cases

WKStA closes investigations against Thomas Schmid

Thomas Schmid

(Bild: APA/MAX SLOVENCIK)

The WKStA (Economic and Corruption Prosecutor's Office) announced on Tuesday that investigations against the former Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance, Thomas Schmid, have been discontinued on suspicion of giving false evidence or have been dropped in further proceedings due to a lack of initial suspicion.

The original investigations were based on the initial suspicion that Schmid allegedly made false statements during his questioning as a respondent in the Ibiza U Committee in June 2020.

Investigations discontinued in two cases
The outcome of the investigation revealed that Schmid's statements to the parliamentary committee were in part objectively correct and in part incomplete, as he had made use of his legal right to refuse to testify as an accused person in a corresponding investigation. The investigations therefore had to be discontinued.

Thomas Schmid is now spared a little legal trouble.

(Bild: APA/MAX SLOVENCIK)

In a further complaint against Schmid, he was accused of giving false testimony when questioned as a witness in the main hearing against Sebastian Kurz (and others) on the charge of giving false evidence before the Vienna Regional Criminal Court in December 2023.

Prosecutors see no "initial suspicion"
The WKStA statement also states: "However, in the absence of initial suspicion, no investigations were to be initiated in this regard, especially as there are no corresponding indications of the alleged false statements in the witness testimony cited in the complaint and the court considered the testimony of MMag. Schmid to be credible as part of its assessment of the evidence."

However, this does not mean that all the allegations against Schmid have been cleared up. According to the WKStA, one of the two largest open proceedings is the Casag case surrounding the partly state-owned Casinos Austria AG (Casag), which concerns a suspected deal in the gambling sector within the turquoise-blue Kurz I government. It is alleged that there was an ÖVP-FPÖ agreement to appoint Peter Sidlo, who is close to the Freedom Party, to the Casag board on a ticket from Casag co-owner Novomatic - although he is said to have been poorly qualified for the position.

There are also investigations into advertisements placed by the Ministry of Finance under Schmid as Secretary General. It is suspected, among other things, that more advertising money was paid for benevolent reporting.

Question of crown witness status still open
It is also still unclear whether Schmid will be granted leniency. He had made a comprehensive confession in several hearings, incriminating himself and prominent ÖVP representatives - including Kurz - in several cases. The WKStA has already made a decision on this and sent a corresponding report to the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office before Easter. Since then, they have been waiting for the result of the investigation.