Fußach case: witnesses incriminate former head of finance

Numerous witnesses were heard on Thursday in the trial surrounding the Fußach financial scandal. Among them was the wife of the accused ex-finance director. She largely confirmed her husband's statements that he had worked seven days a week. Among other things, he is accused of unlawfully charging over 3000 hours of overtime. During questioning by Judge Verena Wackerle, the wife nevertheless provided some contradictions in her statements. She said: "My husband liked to sit in a restaurant by the lake after work to relax."

Despite all the work, they regularly went on hikes or walks. The witness initially did not want to say anything about investment transactions and the question of whether the defendant had also made investments for third parties. After a brief pause, however, she answered the question in the negative and said that friends had come to him to get a few tips. As far as she knew, however, her husband had mainly made predispositions for professional purposes. He hardly ever talked about his work at home.

The discussions of the expert witness Erich Pummerer on the overtime charged by the former CFO were also eagerly awaited. The calculations in this form were neither usual nor comprehensible, said Pummerer. The defendant had rounded the amounts, but he was unable to explain why: "I no longer know." Based on the expert's assessment, the public prosecutor's office assumes that the finance manager collected a whopping 47,000 euros in overtime instead of 23,500 euros.

On the subject of bank transfers, the accountant called as a witness contradicted the statements of the former head of finance that she had obtained TAN codes from the mayor and made bank transfers with the accused in accordance with the dual control principle. "I had nothing to do with that." He alone had made the transfers. She had also been unaware of the existence of two cards during the electronic changeover. 

Trial adjourned until July 22
After the trial lasted into the night on Thursday, the end of the trial was postponed until July 22.

As is well known, the former mayor and the now retired finance director of the village have been on trial at Feldkirch Provincial Court since May on suspicion of abuse of official authority and breach of trust. Both defendants pleaded not guilty before the court of lay assessors.

The case caused a great stir in the public eye because control mechanisms had probably failed for years. The mayor, who no longer stood for election to the municipal council in the fall of 2020, submitted a statement of facts to the criminal authority in the summer of 2020 when he learned of anomalies in salary payments. The provincial court of auditors then took action and, in an audit three years ago, found gross mismanagement and deficiencies in the administration of the municipality of 4000 inhabitants, with over 200,000 euros in damages allegedly incurred.

This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.