Vienna — Austria’s Economic and Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA) has closed its investigation into two businessmen suspected of money laundering in connection with the controversial purchase of Eurofighter fighter jets for the Austrian military.
The decision comes after three other businessmen were finally acquitted of breach of trust in a related Eurofighter case. According to the WKStA, the acquittals removed the legal basis for the money-laundering investigation. Under Austrian law, money laundering requires the money or assets involved to have originated from a criminal offence. Since the alleged underlying crime was not established by the court, the money could no longer legally be considered the proceeds of criminal activity.
The three businessmen were acquitted on March 26. They had been accused of creating a secret cash fund at the expense of aircraft manufacturer EADS, now part of Airbus. EADS was part of the Eurofighter consortium and later took responsibility for the offset agreements made with the Austrian government.
The court, however, concluded that the legal requirements for breach of trust had not been met. The presiding judge argued that EADS itself had benefited from the payments and that the arrangements had ultimately helped the company sell the aircraft to Austria.
According to Austrian broadcaster Ö1, the two businessmen investigated for money laundering were former Magna managers, including Siegfried Wolf, the former chief executive of Magna International. The closure of the investigation also means that assets seized during the case must be returned. Among them are around 103 kilograms of gold.
The Eurofighter affair has remained one of Austria’s longest-running political and legal controversies. In 2000, the government under Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel decided to purchase new fighter jets. In 2002, it unexpectedly selected the Eurofighter to replace the Saab Draken. The purchase contract was signed in 2003.
Questions surrounding the deal led to the first parliamentary investigation committee in 2006, followed by two more in later years. In 2019, the WKStA took over the Eurofighter investigations from the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office.
More than 20 years after Austria decided to buy the jets, the latest decision closes another chapter in the long-running affair. It also highlights a basic principle of criminal law; without a proven underlying crime, a money-laundering case cannot stand.
