Gussenbauer gives 120,000 euro advice to lawmakers in Azerbaijan

In 2014, ex-Federal Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer (SPÖ) received 120,000 euros from Azerbaijan through an offshore company, “Profile” and “ORF” report. According to “Profile”, Güsenbauer confirmed that his “Güsenbauer Projektvikalungs und Beteligungs GmbH” paid for a “six-month coaching and mentoring project for members of the Republic of Azerbaijan” that year. No payment was made to third parties.

According to “Profile” (online), the money flowed through an account at Danske Bank in Estonia, which was owned by Scottish offshore company Faberlex LP. Danske Bank’s Estonia branch is at the center of one of the biggest money laundering scandals in Europe.

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Mailbox company Faberlex, in turn, had an address in addition to its registration in Scotland in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, writes “profile”. And the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), an investigative network focusing on Eastern Europe, accuses Faberlex of being a key company in an offshore network through which large amounts of money can be transferred to the West as anonymously as possible. was taken away. For example, the person who was named in Danske Bank as responsible for Faberlex is actually the driver of a bank in Baku, who says he knows nothing about the business.

Azerbaijan has been repeatedly linked to the bribery of politicians in the West. For example, in 2018, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe punished a former president and three other members after a corruption report accused them of working for money for autocratic-ruled Azerbaijan. According to witnesses, for example, a lobbyist from Azerbaijan handed over 500 euro bills to members of the gathering. For this they must show the human and civil rights situation in the former Soviet republic in a good light.

Earlier this year in Italy, a former parliamentarian was sentenced to four years in prison for the first time on corruption charges. He had received 2.39 million euros from Azerbaijan, writes “Profile”.

In his statement to “Profile”, Gusenbauer explained that he was “not aware of any internationally relevant classification of Azerbaijan as a ‘repressive regime’ since 2014”. There were also no restrictions from the western community of states.