Trial in Feldkirch

Four guilty verdicts in “Causa Wirtschaftsbund”

The four defendants announced their intention to appeal.

(Bild: Dorn Chantall)

The four defendants in the so-called Vorarlberg "Wirtschaftsbund Affair" were found guilty on Tuesday at the Feldkirch Regional Court. The judge considered the charge of accepting benefits for the purpose of influencing or granting benefits for the purpose of influencing to be fulfilled. 

In addition to the former Vorarlberg state governor Karlheinz Rüdisser (ÖVP), the three ex-Wirtschaftsbund executives Hans Peter Metzler, Jürgen Kessler and Walter Natter were also charged. They were sentenced to fines of 27,500 euros (Rüdisser), 15,000 euros (Metzler), 13,500 euros (Kessler) and 10,000 euros (Natter). In each case, half of the fines were imposed for three years. The specific accusation revolved around the payment of six Christmas dinners, each with 30 to 35 participants, with a total value of 12,980 euros. Rüdisser had invited, the Wirtschaftsbund paid. The defendants were acquitted of the charge of breach of trust. An association fine of 4,500 euros was imposed on the Wirtschaftsbund, which was not legally binding for three years.

Judge did not assume intent
In his reasoning, the judge emphasized that he did not assume that the four defendants had acted intentionally - neither in accepting benefits nor in giving benefits to influence. "I do not believe that you have done anything wrong," he said, addressing Rüdisser. But that was not the point. After all, by paying for Christmas dinners for Rüdisser and his employees, a relationship of dependency had been created, which is why the offense had been committed. The judge justified the fact that the fines differed in terms of the defendants' financial circumstances on the one hand and the different lengths of their involvement on the other.

Sponsorship of the business association
The specific allegation made by the Economic and Corruption Prosecutor's Office (WKStA) related to the payment of Christmas dinners in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 as well as a dinner to mark Rüdisser's retirement from politics in 2019, each with 30 to 35 participants and a total value of EUR 12,980. The Christmas dinners were organized by Rüdisser and the bills were paid by the Wirtschaftsbund. The WKStA emphasized that Rüdisser had thereby received an undue advantage and "allowed himself to be influenced in his work as a public official". The aim was not to receive an immediate consideration, but to make himself compliant for the future. The public prosecutor saw the facts of the case as a prime example of "feeding".

Christmas dinners had been a "long-standing tradition"
Rüdisser explained that the Christmas dinners for employees in the Vorarlberg state government office had been introduced by his predecessor Manfred Rein in 1994. From the very beginning, the Christmas parties were paid for by the Wirtschaftsbund, and Rein had expressly recommended continuing the tradition of Christmas dinners, said Rüdisser. "If the chairman of the Wirtschaftsbund assures me of funding, I have to assume that this is legitimate." The Christmas parties were a thank you to the employees and the payment was covered by the statutes of the Wirtschaftsbund. He had always been keen to "not even come close to being accused of accepting benefits", the 70-year-old asserted.

"Can you feed yourself?"
The defendants' lawyers pointed out that the then deputy chairman of the Wirtschaftsbund Rüdisser had of course represented the interests of the Wirtschaftsbund, anything else would have been "out of touch with life". A public official is per se dependent on his party, "there is no need for payment". A legal representative asked: "Can you feed yourself from one function to another?" He himself answered the question with "No". However, the judge rejected the lawyers' argument in the reasons for the ruling. Otherwise, as a member of an association, you could simply be paid by the association without ever coming close to corruption, the judge explained.

The defendants' lawyers lodged a full appeal, the public prosecutor's office did not make a statement. The verdicts are therefore not yet final.