Austrian challenges in privatetoprivate corruption investigations ANDREAS WIESELTHALER

Austrian challenges in private-toprivate corruption investigations ANDREAS WIESELTHALER DIRECTOR

Structure of the Presentation 01 The Case Short presentation of the complex investigations and detailed resources 1 02 Challenges/ Learnings Practical experiences and common loopholes to overcome

1. The “Telekom Case” • • 2 Main Austrian govtl. owned tc-provider Aftermath of the financial crisis 2008 Biggest national corruption case of the last 50 yrs Triggered by 4 suspicious invoices 2010 Executive “shitlist” found Witness immunity granted Unfolded quickly 2011 Media assigned numbers I to VII Parliamentary Committee Oct 2011 – Oct 2012 Information disclosure at early stages of the investigation

2. Main Offences • • • aggravated breach of trust and bribery, fraud, the giving and acceptance of gifts, abuse of authority, sweetening, money laundering, fraudulent practices, coercion, false testimony, advertorials, dissipation of state assets and secret media subsidies, And: ……. 3

3. Other Offences 4 … direct illegal payments to political parties and associated organizations, buying laws, inflated payments to consultants, illegal lobbying activities, the procurement of inflated information campaigns, trading of influence, stock market manipulations, manipulations in order to buy shares of foreign telecommunication providers, the establishment of a radio network of the public authorities connecting all Austrian emergency services, easing the gambling monopoly, inflated payments for expert opinions, exorbitant rents for governmental leasing contracts, unlawful awarding of citizenships, bribing the union representatives of the supervisory board, luxury trips and hunting invitations…

4. Outcome of the Cases • • Nearly all political parties involved Broad societal discussion on corruption Altered the perception of the public Exposed political elite-networks (Johnston: “influence markets”) Several new laws and regulations on media cooperation and media subsidies, funding of political parties and campaigns Parliamentary committee: right to propose as a minority right Convictions Investigation/prosecution on-going 5

5. Investigations Ø 17 Prosecutors Ø 20 Investigators (6 -8 average) Ø 25 different case-areas Ø 5 MP immunity suspended Ø 950 binders of investigative documentary 2050 binders of relevant evidence Ø 2 external storage facilities Ø 391 prosecutors orders for BAK Ø 14 wiretappings 6

6. Investigations cont. Ø 2 IT-telecommunication surveillances (> 350 TB, equivalent to 35, 7 million pages) Ø 2 observations Ø 23 bank accounts opened Ø 50 house searches Ø 100 confiscations Ø 1 st case of granted witness-immunity CFO Gernot Schieszler 7

7. Public Interest 8

8. Challenges / Learnings I • Complex case • High media interest • Prominent offenders (prominent politicians, high profile business people, lobbyists) • International investigations national interests ltd. Cooperation political cast law-protection • Business school knowledge 9

9. Challenges / Learnings II • • • Parliamentary commission Political interests Leakages to Media (breaches of secrecy) Litigation PR Witness immunity Reversal of the burden of proof Civil law for confiscation of illicit enrichment Changes of prosecutors Investigative and prosecutorial strategy Key challenge: Data mining in seized materials and not getting lost! 10

10. Challenges / Learnings III Data mining: • Search and find v/s analyse • No universal (out of the box) product • Don’t let the tailors do carpenters work! • Connected work roles – investigators and prosecutors • Have patience v/s decide • Co-develop • Find allies with similar problems 11

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13 Sources • Johnston, Michael: Syndromes of Corruption: Wealth, Power, and Democracy. Cambridge University Press, 2005. • Alina Mungiu-Pippidi: Contextual Choices in Fighting Corruption – lessons learned http: //www. untag-smd. ac. id/files/Perpustakaan_Digital_1/CORRUPTION%20 Syndromes%20 of%20 Corruption. pdf https: //www. hertieschool. org/fileadmin/images/Downloads/research_projects/NORAD-final-report-lessons-learned. pdf • Federal Law on Media Cooperation and Media Subsidies: Federal Law Gazette I 125/2011. http: //www. ris. bka. gv. at/Geltende. Fassung. wxe? Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=20004546 • Federal Law on Financing of Political Parties: Federal Law Gazette I 56/2012, last amended by Federal Law Gazette I 84/2013. • http: //www. ris. bka. gv. at/Geltende. Fassung. wxe? Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=20007889