The first trial in scandals rocking the Austrian Hypo Group Alpe Adria bank commenced before a court in Klagenfurt on Tuesday with the bank group's former CEO, Wolfgang Kulterer, a former CEO of Hypo Oesterreich, Gert Xander, and a former bank manager, Albin Ruhdorfer, in the dock, the Austrian media reported today.
The three defendants are charged with having approved, following intervention by the late Carinthian Governor, Joerg Haider, a EUR 2-million loan to the ailing "Styrian Spirit" airline company, which later declared bankruptcy, and with having granted a EUR 150,000 loan to private detective Dietmar Guggenbichler, although they did not offer guarantees for the loans and failed to pay them back.
Charged with mismanagement, the three defendants face prison sentences of up to 10 years, if they are found guilty.
In addition, Kulterer is charged with having given false statements in this case.
The three defendants pleaded not guilty.
A score of witnesses are expected to take the witness stand in this trial in the coming days.
The trial chamber's president Norbert Jenny is likely to make a ruling in a few weeks' time.
