Card Gifts – No charges against Innsbruck’s mayor

No evidence was provided for a connection between the handing over of the leisure cards and specific official matters. The recruitment had already taken place on 10 July. Mayor Anzengruber recently expressed his conviction in the spring in the run-up to the Innsbruck city council and the direct mayoral elections that there was “no truth” to the story. Even if charges were filed, he said he would not consider drawing political consequences. In the second election, Anzengruber ultimately prevailed over the incumbent Georg Willi (Greens) and became the new mayor.

At the end of last year, the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Economic Affairs and Corruption opened an investigation against the then deputy mayor of the ÖVP of Innsbruck and another person, after the case had been transferred to them by the Innsbruck Public Prosecutor’s Office. Anzengruber had distributed around 1,100 so-called ‘Tirol Experience Cards’, which offer various discounts for leisure activities in Tyrol, from the company digital solutions GmbH to the members of the Innsbruck fire brigade and the staff of a nursing home. Other blue light organisations and all approximately 1,400 employees of the Innsbruck social services were also given this consideration.

The former city deputy saw nothing objectionable, on the contrary. He welcomed the investigation and stressed that he had only acted as an intermediary and that the cards had not been given to the city or to him personally. However, in an accompanying letter to some recipients, the deputy mayor is quoted as saying, which raises doubts about the role of the intermediary: “I am pleased to present you with a card with which you can enjoy the many different sporting, culinary, tourist and cultural adventures until the end of the year.”

Companies in the picture
In addition, the focus was on transactions between the former Anzengruber department and the company. According to the city of Innsbruck, there were “not insignificant business relationships”. The company had developed an app for the city. In total, the company received orders for app modules for a total amount of 47,000 euros, but the individual invoices remained below the Senate limit of 25,000 euros, the city refers to an investigation by the municipal administration.

Although the city of Innsbruck is listed as responsible for the app, the offices responsible for data protection, human resources development and citizen services were not aware of the application. Because an audit revealed shortcomings in the area of ​​the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the app was taken offline.