Abuse of office?
FPÖ Graz financial case: public prosecutor charged
The next twist in the never-ending FPÖ financial scandal in Graz: the public prosecutor who has been investigating the case for around two years has now been charged by the Federal Office for Combating and Preventing Corruption.
The complaint was filed by Alexis Pascuttini, chairman of the (Corruption) Free Municipal Council Club (KFG) in Graz. According to Pascuttini, "countless absurd things happened" during the public prosecutor's investigations and there is a suspicion of abuse of office, it was said on Monday.
15 pages of unclear content
According to Pascuttini and his lawyer Matthias Cernusca, the events reported should not happen in criminal proceedings. The statement of facts submitted the previous week comprises 15 pages and, according to the KFG chairman, was "extremely carefully prepared". It relates to the period from May 2022 to September 2024. The company does not wish to comment on the content for the time being and will have to wait for the Federal Office's questioning.
"The statement of facts we have submitted is the sad but necessary final consequence of the experiences of recent years. Since November 2021, we have had to witness how the numerous proceedings against high-ranking politicians of the Styrian FPÖ have simply gone nowhere," said Pascuttini. A complaint against the public prosecutor had already been lodged in August. She no longer works in Klagenfurt, but in Vienna, and a new public prosecutor took over the extensive case with several sub-strands a few months ago.
"Obvious unwillingness"
Pascuttini speaks of a "huge judicial scandal". It is clear that everyone makes mistakes, including public prosecutors. However, "the completely unusual accumulation of massive delays in investigations, investigative mishaps and a very obvious unwillingness to clarify certain facts and to properly investigate the main facts of the case result in a clear suspicion of abuse of authority".
Shortly after the FPÖ's defeat in the 2021 municipal elections in Graz, it became known that money from the city's club funding had apparently been diverted on a large scale. Following the self-disclosure by finance officer Matthias Eder, it emerged that former deputy mayor Mario Eustacchio and former club leader Armin Sippel could also be involved. Both resigned from their positions and have since been under investigation by the public prosecutor's office in Klagenfurt.
Eustacchio is now back in politics as a "wild" local councillor, the Graz FPÖ club has crumbled: Pascuttini and Claudia Schönbacher as well as other blue parties were expelled from the FPÖ and founded the KFG, other members left the FPÖ, partly due to other investigations.
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