Austrian police last week conducted raids of addresses linked to a nationalist leader, Freedom Party former Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache, and the heads of gaming company Novomatic AG. They are reportedly suspected of graft and corruption.
According to Bloomberg News, citing the Austrian news outlet Der Standard, Novomatic Chief Executive Officer Harald Neumann and founder and owner Johann Graf are among those named in the probe. A spokesman for Novomatic declined to comment on the allegations.
The investigation centers on the appointment of the Freedom Party’s Peter Sidlo to the management board of Casinos Austria AG, a lottery and casino operator in which the Austrian government and Novomatic own stakes, a Casinos Austria spokesman said. Casinos Austria is not a target of the probe.
Strache, former junior Finance Minister Hubert Fuchs, and others allegedly pledged to change laws in return for Novomatic backing the appointment at Casinos Austria, Der Standard said.
On his Facebook page, Strache denied the allegations and said they were politically motivated. The Freedom Party said the probe didn’t involve its current leadership.
Strache resigned as vice chancellor and Freedom Party chairman in May following the release of a video in which he was shown promising state contracts for cash to a woman claiming to be a Russian oligarch’s niece and plotting to take over Austria’s largest newspaper. He also mentioned Novomatic as a donor in the video, a claim Novomatic has denied.
Conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who had led in a coalition with the Freedom Party, was ousted days later. Austria will have a new election September 29.
