The suspect is said to have set municipal taxes such as property tax, dog tax or local tax and transferred the money received. In addition to the municipal supervisory authority, the Salzburg public prosecutor’s office is also investigating in the autumn. Oberdorf was last checked five years ago, at that time without any abnormalities being found.

The employee is said to have confessed to his direct superior in the second half of October 2022. On the day that the municipality was informed, the person had been removed, the mayor said on Tuesday to the APA. The state of Salzburg was also informed immediately. “We don’t know the motive behind it.”

Last check in 2017 did not reveal any abnormalities

According to an expert, the person concerned did it very cleverly that nothing was found during the check, the mayor explained. “We will have our internal control systems comprehensively evaluated to identify any weaknesses. The community will continue to work with the state and authorities to fully resolve the case.

“The accused of infidelity is being investigated,” said the famous spokesman for the Salzburg public prosecutor, Marcus Neher, when asked by APA. The investigations were initially initiated because of another suspicion after the public prosecutor’s office received a statement of the facts of an apartment owners’ association on August 5, 2022, for which the accused had taken over the property management as a sideline. Accordingly, funds were removed from the WEG account for which there was no legal basis.

Employee admitted to inconsistencies

The man was confronted with the inconsistencies. He confessed that he had set aside 40,130 euros, but not to the detriment of the homeowners’ association, Neher explained. According to a written statement by his defense attorney, he transferred the money from the municipality’s accounts to the WEG and then appropriated the money. The apartment owners finally noticed the departures. The accused stated that the money belongs to the municipality. “His responsibility will now be checked by us,” said the prosecutor.

“If these financial requirements turn out to be actual embezzlement, this is a clearly criminally relevant case. After I was informed about this, I immediately commissioned the municipal supervisory authority to check the municipality of Oberndorf. The last review of the municipality of Oberndorf by the municipal supervisory authority of the state of Salzburg took place in July 2017. The free budget peak, reserves, debt levels and various individual investments were checked in order to assess the financial situation of the municipality. In addition, Oberndorf was also audited by the state audit office in 2017/2018 (audit period 2014 to 2016). At that time, no irregularities could be found,” says Governor Wilfried Haslauer (ÖVP) in a first reaction.

Special audit by the state audit office possible

According to Haslauer, a decision on a special audit by the state audit office is still to be made. In addition, internal control mechanisms of the municipality of Oberndorf are to be comprehensively evaluated, adds the governor.