The Ohlsdorf case is now officially a matter for the public prosecutor: as the “Krone” learned on Tuesday morning, the judiciary is investigating Alois Lanz, the district captain of Gmunden. The BAK, the Federal Office for the Prevention and Combating of Corruption, has been commissioned to conduct the investigation; a first interim report is expected mid-summer.
Last year, the Court of Audit investigated the events surrounding the future industrial development area “Ehrenfeld II Viecht”. The report, published in December 2023, said the clearing of almost 19 hectares of forest “was not properly carried out”. The federal auditors complained that this was done “without sufficient examination of the requirements.”
Waiving of environmental impact assessment
In concrete terms, this concerned the fact that officials did not order an environmental impact assessment (EIA) and allowed the felling of the enormous forest area next to the western highway to proceed.
Procedure delegated from Wels to Salzburg
After the environmental NGO AllRise announced a complaint, the Wels Public Prosecution Service became active for the first time and investigated the first suspicions. At this stage, when no decision had been made on official investigations, the procedure was delegated by the Linz Public Prosecutor’s Office to the authorities in Salzburg. Reason for this: The locally responsible prosecutors of Wels work ex officio with the Gmunden district administration. And in order not to arouse suspicion of bias, the matter was entrusted to colleagues in Salzburg.
Investigation against unknown perpetrators
It was decided there on May 10 to start the investigation into this case. “It concerns suspicions of abuse of office, we have instructed the Federal Office for the Prevention and Combating of Corruption,” confirms public prosecutor and media spokeswoman Elena Haslinger. An official of the Gmunden district administration, the head of the authority Alois Lanz, as well as unknown perpetrators are specifically being investigated. “If perpetrators are named during the course of the proceedings, they will also be investigated,” Haslinger said.
Source: Krone
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