Causa Wienwert:

Turmoil surrounding Karl Mahrer shortly before the national party conference

ÖVP Vienna Chairman Karl Mahrer

(Bild: Tomschi Peter)

It's all about the real estate company Wienwert and the agency of Karl Mahrer's wife, who will be elected head of the Vienna ÖVP on Friday ...

Politics is a tough business, so it is probably no surprise that the editorial team of the "Krone" was informed about this case involving Karl Mahrer, head of the Vienna ÖVP, so close to the party conference. It is about the Wienwert case and the 10,000 euros per month that flowed to Mahrer's wife's agency, although there was no concrete quid pro quo, according to a file (so far, so well known).

As reported in 2021, there is an email from former Wienwert managing director Stefan Gruze in which it can be read that he could "reduce the fee with Karl to half", i.e. to 5,000 euros. Karl Mahrer is now a defendant in the case - and will soon have to be questioned.

"Investigations since I took over the party"
According to Mahrer's office: "I myself am not involved in my wife's company in any way. Only since the beginning of December 2021, i.e. only after I took over the Vienna People's Party, have I, to my surprise, been informed about investigations by the WKStA or have these investigations been started. I will play an active role in clarifying the facts. I have received an invitation to an initial meeting in June 2022." 

What remains of this remains to be seen. A number of charges have been dropped in the recent past - see Gernot Blümel.