The problem of the ‘idea factory’ seemed to have been ticked off for FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl. A new trust agreement for the purchase of a property raises controversial questions. The ÖVP wants answers to this in the U-committee, where Kickl is invited again. Lawyer denies that Kickl partly financed the building.
Herbert Kickl had a fairly comfortable political life for a long time. The ÖVP was lost in chat matters. The SPÖ conducted endless internal election campaigns. The third person laughing appeared to be Kickl. He rose and rose in the polls. But now his past – or rather an old business model – is catching up with him, namely the affair surrounding the Carinthian advertising agency Denkenschmiede. Ten years ago, the WKStA investigated this case against his business partner Thomas Sila and the former Carinthian state deputy Uwe Scheuch.
Kickl’s friend and agency boss eventually gets a distraction. Scheuch is accused and convicted of kickbacks. A contract between the Dingeschmiede agency and the FPÖ Carinthia (or it was the BZÖ at the time) contains the interesting sentence: “For orders from the FPÖ state government offices, the FPÖ Carinthia receives 20 percent of the agency’s order volume. A classic Kick-back model.
Kickl acted as a witness at the time, but he was never investigated, mainly because the then section head, Christian Pilnacek, said the soup was too thin.
How could Pilnacek arrive at this legal advice?
Very simple: Kickl founded the agency together with Sila in 2005, but it was never registered in the company register. There is a trust agreement in place where Kickl is half-owner of the think tank and Sila manages his shares in trust. When questioning witnesses for the WKStA, the FPÖ leader claimed he had only been a silent partner for “a few weeks”. The trust was “orally” dissolved. The two contradicted each other on this point – Sila talked about a written termination, but was never able to produce a corresponding document. And the tax advisor of the two says: “I am not aware of any termination of the trust (by Kickl).”
Minister of Green Justice Alma Zadić also explains in a parliamentary question that despite extensive research, it cannot be determined with certainty whether the confidentiality agreements between Sila and Kickl have actually been complied with.
Why is the think tank suddenly back in the picture?
A new trust agreement has now emerged (see facsimiles) – for the purchase of a property, as the “Falter” reported. In 2010, Sila and Kickl bought the building where the ‘idea factory’ is headquartered from the Federal Real Estate Company for almost 200,000 euros. The building is now for sale – for no less than 1.2 million euros. The trust agreement states that Kickl contributed just over 100,000 euros to the purchase price in 2010.
“Kickl never transferred money for the purchase”
For attorney Martin Dohnal, who represents Thomas Sila, this is a lame attempt to warm up an old case where everything was meticulously investigated. “The trust agreement for the property never came to fruition because Sila financed the purchase with a loan. Kickl never transferred any money to Sila for the purchase. Approximately seven factual areas were examined during the study. All accounts of my client and his family were opened, but the WKStA found no connection with Kickl.”
Why is the think tank even a problem for the U-Committee?
Bureau Dingeschmiede was renamed Signs after the 2015 scandal. When Kickl became interior minister in late 2017, the agency suddenly reappeared. She is designing a logo for the police department – according to Herbert Kickl, the agency did not charge for the design. With this order for the Ministry of the Interior, the agency becomes the subject of an investigation by the U-Committee “Red-Blue Abuse of Power”. On Monday, ÖVP faction leader Andreas Hanger will publish at a press conference the questions he wants to ask Kickl in his next appearance as an information person. “Then Kickl can prepare for the content of the questions and there is no longer an excuse for not being able to remember,” says Hanger.
Hanger has many questions for the FPÖ leader: “As Minister of the Interior, Kickl worked with an advertising agency in which he was or is personally involved. Why he wanted to conceal this involvement through trust agreements is an important question that we will clarify.”
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
