Austria’s Public Prosecutor’s Office for Economic Affairs and Corruption has filed charges against a senior government official and two Novomatic executives for bribery following an order from the Senior Public Prosecutor’s Office Vienna and Federal Ministry of Justice.
Inside Asian Gaming understands the two executives in question are Novomatic’s owner Johann Graf and former Novomatic and Ainsworth Game Technology (AGT) CEO Harald Neumann. Neumann stepped down from AGT in October after the Nevada Gaming Control Board opted not to renew his state gaming license.
The charges, which follow an investigation first launched in 2018, relate to allegations that former Austrian Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister for Public Service and Sport, Heinz-Christian Strache, in his capacity at the time as Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister for Public Service and Sport, demanded the Novomatic executives appoint a candidate – Peter Sidlo – to the board of Casinos Austria AG not because of qualifications but due to the candidate’s political affiliation with Strache and the ruling party.
