Vienna airport insists on pursuing MIA watch complaint against former CEO

The owners of Malta International Airport – Vienna International Airport (VIE) – are pursuing a criminal complaint against former MIA chief executive officer Markus Klaushofer

Markus Klaushofer
Markus Klaushofer

The owners of Malta International Airport – Vienna International Airport (VIE) – are pursuing a criminal complaint against former MIA chief executive officer Markus Klaushofer, after Vienna’s public prosecutor recommended that the complaint be rejected by a regional criminal court in Austria.

VIE filed its report after Klaushofer, sacked back in January, was alleged to have benefited from a €3,000 discount on an Omega watch from one of the duty-free shops at Malta airport. The shops are operated by the Nuance Group, who are partners with VIE in the Malta Mediterranean Link consortium that owns a majority stake in the airport.

In its investigation, Vienna’s prosecutor’s office for economic crimes and corruption said that as CEO of Malta airport, Klaushofer was not acting as a member of the staff of VIE. “It would only have made sense to influence Klaushofer in respect of his position as an office of MIA.”

The prosecutor also said that it was of the opinion that with Klaushofer earning €147,000 annually as CEO, it was unlikely that the €3,000 discount would make him susceptible to influence. “The value of the benefit, which in the end probably did not exceed €3,000 in view of the two-digit discount rates usually granted for such high-end watches, is insignificant compared to Klaushofer’s high income and against the backdrop of the economic importance of an extension, if any, of the lease agreement between MIA and Nuance.”

The prosecutor moved that the Vienna Regional Court of Criminal Matters reject the motion by VIE to continue preliminary proceedings on its criminal complaint.

But VIE has filed an application to continue proceedings, insisting that Klaushofer’s secondment to MIA was an official duty and that he was still integrated into VIE’s organisation.

It also said the prosecutor was incorrect in believing that the €3,000 discount was not sufficient to influence the former CEO. “This is not a question of provability, but of the relevant legal parameters,” VIE said, saying the law did not recognise any ‘threshold of susceptibility’ and the prosecutor could not simply assume that the benefit would not influence Klaushofer’s decisions because of his high income.

Klaushofer has filed an unfair dismissal claim in the Industrial Tribunal after turning down a €400,000 golden handshake from VIE. While he claims his dismissal was motivated by VIE’s demand for regular access to MIA’s financial data, VIE accuse him of having supplied Antin Infrastructure in Paris with adjusted traffic forecasts to influence the price of VIE’s shares in Malta airport – ostensibly to become “friendly” with the new investor in an attempt to retain his executive position.

VIE holds 57.1% of the shares in Malta Mediterranean Link, the airport operator which altogether owns 40% of MIA. MML’s other shareholders are SNC Lavalin, whose shareholding VIE is now expected to acquire; and the Nuance Group, whose representative is Maltese entrepreneur Michael Bianchi.