Koza Cortes: The Great Cell Phone Exchange in the Chancellery

New cell phones for Curtis employees

Coincidence or not: Exactly on September 28, ÖVP Vieze General Secretary Gabi Schwartz held a much-discussed press conference about impending home searches at the party headquarters. If it came to that, Schwartz said at the time, you wouldn’t find anything. ÖVP has long since started deleting data on a regular basis: “There is nothing left”.

Investigators will still find out if there is really nothing left regarding Fleischmann and Frischmann’s cell phones. While searching Frischmann’s office in the Federal Chancellery, investigators also questioned the head of the Chancellery’s IT department. According to the memo, the latter stated that two weeks ago “there was a large exchange of cabinet mobile phones.” This was done for “security reasons”. The exchanged mobile phones are now in use since the beginning of the ÖVP-Greens government. “He believes that devices are often exchanged or reset if necessary for security reasons.”

The Chancellery refused administrative assistance

Investigators wanted to know if Frischmann’s old phone was still on hand. The head of the IT department said yes. He said this could be in the Federal Chancellery store. Investigators immediately went to dig up the device. They also requested a list of all devices exchanged by Cabinet employees two weeks ago – with “a record of the history of devices being exchanged in the past”. Recall: Chancellor General Bernd Brunner refused to hand over the nation’s document and the old mobile phone as part of the administrative assistance. However, the WKStA insisted on a guarantee.

Meanwhile, investigators received notification that Fleischmann’s old phone could also be in a deliberate warehouse. This must now be ensured as well. Then there was a brief disappointment: there was no trace of Frischmann’s old mobile phone in the warehouse. It was discovered by a security officer in the Chancellery elsewhere: “After the accused presented it to the IT department, it was sent by internal mail. The mobile phone has not yet been reset by the IT department, but it is in the condition handed over by the employee,” according to a note in the file. So the cell phone was in a sealed white envelope that investigators opened.

Cell phone exchange a few days before the raid

A secretary stated that on October 1, 2021 – according to the aforementioned press conference held by Gabe Schwartz – the mobile was “in her office with the order to refer it to the IT department, which she did”. An employee of the Chancellery’s IT department handed over a list according to which the old cell phone was returned on September 29, 2021 before the new one was handed over. Frischmann was asked again about this and stated that he must have received the new mobile on the Tuesday or Wednesday of the last week of September – either September 28 or 29 – and that he would then have to receive the old one on Friday, September 1, October 1, back to secretary. In addition, Johannes Frischmann stated that he used the previous model for about half a year/nine months because cell phones are regularly replaced at such intervals.

Fleischmann’s old cell phone – “which he returned to the FBI last week” – can also be found. However, a note in the file reads: “The IT expert has been able to determine that this old handed over mobile phone has been completely reset.”

Recently, investigators have had great success in recovering deleted data. It remains to be seen if this will also be possible in a particular case.