Up to five years in prison

Rededications for money: mayor on trial

The public prosecutor's office in Wels brought charges.

(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

A former ÖVP mayor from the district of Vöcklabruck is to stand trial in Wels on Tuesday for unlawful acceptance of gifts and abuse of office because, among other things, he allegedly collected money for the municipality from applicants for rezoning for years during his time in office.

Specifically, this involved the rezoning of grassland into building land with a special tourism business, as a court spokesperson explained. If convicted, the offenders face between six months and five years in prison. The investigations were triggered by a complaint from the Vöcklabruck district authority as part of the municipal audit.

First case was in 1998
The accused, who sat on the municipal council until 2021 - 13 years of which as head of the municipality - is said to have demanded more than five million Austrian schillings (around 364,000 euros) for the first time at the end of 1998 for a change of use. The amount was paid to the municipality, as were all subsequent ones, according to the court spokesman in the indictment. After he took office as mayor, further such payments were apparently made from 2009 onwards. The sums are likely to have amounted to 36,000 euros, but sometimes also 108,000 euros. It was always a matter of converting grassland into building land with a special tourism business.

Pleaded not guilty
Furthermore, the former head of the village is accused of not having issued a notice prohibiting a family from living privately in a building intended for tourism purposes between 2008 and 2017. This omission gives rise to the suspicion of abuse of office. The defendant has not yet pleaded guilty and also referred to the statute of limitations.

"No longer any function"
"The proceedings against the accused are ongoing and the presumption of innocence applies. He is an ordinary member and has no function in the OÖVP. We will follow the trial closely and reassess the situation after a first-instance verdict if necessary," explained OÖVP regional managing director Florian Hiegelsberger in response to an inquiry from "Krone".