As was announced on Friday afternoon, both the Linz Neos and the MFG have submitted a statement of facts on the Luger case to the Linz public prosecutor’s office, as spokeswoman Ulrike Breiteneder confirmed to the OÖN.
Specifically, both statements refer to paragraph 153 of the criminal code, which deals with breach of trust. “We are now examining both letters,” reports Breiteneder. The presumption of innocence applies.
The MFG letter states verbatim: “There is a suspicion that Luger abused his position as mayor to use public funds for a legal review that primarily served his own benefit. The purpose of this report was not to objectively clarify the facts for the benefit of the city, but to conceal his own role and avoid the consequences of his actions. This is a clear case of misuse of public funds as the expenditure is being used to cover his own misdeeds.”
A spokeswoman confirmed that the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Economic Affairs and Corruption (WKStA) had also received a statement. The letter is currently being examined, but in principle the WKStA is only responsible for cases involving damages of at least 5 million euros.
If Luger is charged, he faces a prison sentence of up to six months or a fine of up to 360 daily rates. The sentence could also be up to three years if the damage exceeds 3,000 euros. Up to 10 years in prison would even be possible if the damage exceeds 300,000 euros.
