2023-05-23 17:52:00
The former family minister was found guilty of competition manipulation. The sentence, 15 months imprisonment, was imposed on probation.
Fourth and last day of the trial in the Criminal Court of Vienna: The Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA) demands a guilty verdict – as well as “tangible partial imprisonment” for the accused. Because of serious fraud and anti-competitive agreements. The court only partially complies: Ex-Family Affairs Minister Sophie Karmasin is found guilty of the said agreements.
She is spared a fraud conviction. Judge Patrick Aulebauer sees the fraudulent acts as “proven beyond doubt” and “clearly documented” – Karmasin committed the fraud “with full intention and knowingly” but made an regarding-face “just in time”. By fully repaying the amount of damage, the ex-politician should be granted active remorse and thus impunity on this point.
The bottom line is that the 56-year-old is sentenced to 15 months in prison. This is imposed conditionally (on probation). Specifically: The ex-minister (term of office: 2013 to 2017, nominated by the ÖVP) does not have to go behind bars once more. She was there once, during her three-week detention in March 2022.
A department head of the Ministry of Sports who was also accused in the matter of “studies” was acquitted in case of doubt.
The verdicts are not yet final. Karmasin requests time to think. The WKStA initially made no statement at all.
Salary continued
The ex-minister fought until the end on Tuesday for an acquittal. For months she had collected 75 percent of her salary as a minister, a total of almost 80,000 euros, although she had already generated new income from lecturing. The Federal Chancellery had explained to her that she was not allowed to earn anything during this time.
In addition, according to the allegations, she also received commission payments resulting from an agreement with her former employee Sabine Beinschab. Beinschab, also a pollster, had become self-employed, prepared studies and surveys on behalf of the Ministry of Finance and later became a key witness in the context of the advertisement affair (which was not yet the subject of the hearing). As such, she now heavily incriminated Karmasin, adding grist to the mills of the prosecution.
But why did the WKStA now rule out that Karmasin had shown active remorse with regard to continued salary payments? Very simple: When the money was repaid in March 2022, the matter had already been reported in the news. From this point of view, the repayment was no longer voluntary. In addition, she returned too little money in a first tranche, namely 62,000 euros. Therefore, there can be no question of a full compensation for the damage.
However, the court did not allow all of this to apply, so that the accused was released on precisely this point.
Karmasin herself said in her closing remarks: “I am not a victim. I made mistakes.”
The WKStA had, however, repeatedly made Karmasin’s financial situation an issue. The indictment states: The actions of “the economically extremely well-off first accused” were aimed at “maximum personal enrichment at the expense of the general public”.
On the second charge: Between 2019 and 2021, the ex-minister had received commitments from the Ministry of Sports to prepare studies. But: Karmasin had previously instigated two other pollsters (including Beinschab) to make bogus offers so that she, Karmasin, was the best bidder. Here was a guilty verdict.
“I am deeply convinced that Doctor Karmasin should not be accused of criminal prosecution,” defender Norbert Wess countered. In sports studies, no competition was organized in the ministry. Therefore, Karmasin might not restrict such a one.
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