The domestic mask manufacturer Hygiene Austria has become the target of a raid, as a company spokesman confirmed on Tuesday evening. Searches were therefore carried out at two addresses – in Donau-City-Straße 11 in Vienna near Palmers and in Wiener Neudorf, where Hygiene Austria also has its production site. The company is said to have relabelled masks from China to Austrian masks. Hygiene Austria is a subsidiary of Palmers and Lenzing.
“The background to this is the results of the investigation, according to which FFP2 masks produced abroad are said to have been repacked at a company location in Austria and sold at a higher price than brands produced in Austria, and people are said to have repacked the FFP2 masks without the required registration for social security “, said Chief Public Prosecutor Elisabeth Täubl from the Economic and Corruption Public Prosecutor's Office (WKStA) of the Austria Press Agency – but without naming a company. Investigations are being conducted against persons known by name as well as against persons in charge of an Austrian company, who are still to be determined, in connection with the sale of FFP2 masks “on suspicion of organized undeclared work and serious commercial fraud”.
House searches have now been carried out at two company locations with judicial approval. A senior public prosecutor from the WKStA, officials from the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) Lower Austria, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and the financial police were on duty during the searches.
According to the senior public prosecutor, the amount of damage is still the subject of ongoing investigations. The responsibility of the WKStA arises “currently primarily due to its exclusive responsibility for the offense of organized illegal work”. More detailed information on accused persons, associations (such as companies and the like) or on further investigative measures could currently not be given due to the ongoing investigations.
Lenzing announced further details about the incident in the form of a company announcement. This is to be expected on Wednesday at the earliest – after internal coordination.
Criticism from Neos and FPÖ
Politically explosive is the fact that Luca Wieser, one of the three board members of Palmers Textil AG, is the husband of Lisa Wieser, the office manager of Chancellor Kurz's cabinet. Also on the board: Lucas brother Tino Wieser. A marriage that the Neos in parliament had already questioned by means of a parliamentary question.
The house searches confirm the Neos faction leader in the so-called small investigative committee, Douglas Hoyos. Above all, the lack of proper tendering procedures and also dubious procurement processes in recent months – coupled with the government's lack of transparency – would have made the small committee of inquiry necessary.
The work in the small U-Committee is currently in full swing: “In the next few months we will deal intensively with the measures and, above all, the procurement of the government. The corona mask manufacturer Hygiene Austria will only be part of this. If the suspicion is confirmed by the house search, it will of course also have to be dealt with intensively in the small investigation committee.
If the accusations are correct, the FPÖ sees the next “scandal de top class” for which the federal government – and above all Chancellor Kurz – bears full responsibility, party leader Norbert Hofer is quoted in a broadcast congratulates.
Lenzing wants to expand the majority
The oö. Fiber manufacturer Lenzing wants to take control of the mask company soon. This emerged from a merger registration with the Federal Competition Authority (BWB) in mid-February. Accordingly, Lenzing intends to acquire sole control over Hygiene Austria LP GmbH. Palmers Textil Aktiengesellschaft remains a minority shareholder. The authority has until March 2nd (Tuesday) for the examination.
Hygiene Austria LP GmbH was founded on April 24, 2020 by Lenzing and Palmers as a hygiene competence center with the aim of enabling “fast and independent production of hygiene articles” at the former Palmers production site in Wiener Neudorf near Vienna, as stated in several press releases The company, in which Lenzing AG initially holds 50.1% and Palmers Textil AG 49.9%, provides so-called mouth and nose protective masks (MNS) and surgical protective masks of class EN14683 with a monthly capacity of 15 million pieces and 10 million FFP2 masks per month.
