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 the statements made by Schmid before the parliamentary committee were in part objectively correct and in part incomplete, as he had exercised his legal right to refuse to testify as an accused person in a corresponding investigation. The investigations therefore had to be discontinued.

In a further complaint against Schmid, he was accused of having given 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.

The WKStA statement also states: "In the absence of initial suspicion, however, no investigations were to be initiated in this regard, especially since there were 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 in its assessment of the evidence."

Both the withdrawal of the complaint and the discontinuation of the investigations took place after the approval of the corresponding project report by the Vienna Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and the Federal Ministry of Justice in agreement with the Council of Instructions.