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'Bribery' lobbyist Mensdorff-Pouilly in London house arrest

An Austrian lobbyist accused of bribery was released on bail after being put in custody in London last Friday.

Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said last night (Thurs) that Burgenland-based Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly was released in return for a 500,000 GBP (572,672 Euros) bail.

The anti-corruption body said that Mensdorff-Pouilly – suspected of being involved in bribery of political leaders in connection with the acquisition of jet fighters by Central and Eastern European countries – is under house arrest between midnight and 6am, adding he had been issued with electronic ankle tags.

Mensdorff-Pouilly – who owns estates in Austria and Scotland – also had to hand in his passport, it has been reported.

SEO said the next hearing in the case would take place next Wednesday.

Officials reportedly hope to make a decision over whether the husband of former People’s Party (ÖVP) Health Minister Maria Rauch-Kallat will be charged or not this month.

The authority said they cooperated with Austrian officials in arresting Mensdorff-Pouilly. Prosecutors in Vienna have been investigating his alleged malpractices for one and a half years.

Mensdorff-Pouilly’s lawyer Harald Schuster is expected to comment on the developments today. Schuster earlier this week said British investigators had sent a letter to him. The lawyer however refused to reveal its contents, saying he would not comment on the issue until today.

Mensdorff-Pouilly – who is not allowed to call himself a count or an aristocrat or make use of his aristocratic family line due to Austrian laws banning aristocratic titles after World War I – is accused of bribing government officials in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria between 2002 and 2008.

The 56-year-old – whose land owner father passed away earlier this year – is alleged to have made illegal payments of around 12 million Euros in return for contracts to deliver Gripen fighter jets produced by British defence company BAE Systems.

Austrian Times

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