Novomatic Billionaire Founder Johann Graf Charged in Casino Corruption Case

• Austrian prosecutors file corruption charges in Casinos Austria scandal
• Novomatic founder Johann Graf accused of active trading in influence
  
• Case revives fallout from Strache and covert video

Austrian authorities have charged Johann Graf, the billionaire founder and owner of Novomatic, with corruption offenses in connection with the country’s long-running “Casino Austria” political scandal.

Graf, 80, established Novomatic in 1980 and grew it into one of the world’s biggest gaming technology groups. He is specifically charged with “active trading in influence” in relation to the appointment of a member of Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) to the board of Casinos Austria seven years ago.

Also charged are Heinz-Christian Strache, former Austrian Vice-Chancellor and FPÖ party leader, and Harald Neumann, ex-Novomatic CEO, and later CEO of Australian gaming giant Ainsworth Game Technology (AGT).

Neumann resigned from AGT in October 2025 after he was refused licensing in Nevada, in part, for failing to tell regulators about the ongoing investigation.

Sidlo Appointment

At Austria’s 2017 national elections, Strache’s FPÖ garnered 26% of the vote, which enabled it to form a collation government with the Conservative Party.

In March 2019, an FPÖ district councilor for Vienna’s 9th district, Peter Sidlo, was appointed CFO of Casinos Austria, despite having no executive track record or experience in the gaming sector.

Casinos Austria, which has the exclusive federal license for land-based casino gaming in the country, is one-third owned by the Austrian state through its holding company, ÖBAG. At the time, though no longer, Novomatic was the company’s other major shareholder, with 17.19%.

Now, Austrian prosecutors believe Graf and Neumann backed Sidlo’s appointment as part of a quid-pro-quo deal with the FPÖ.

This could then have paved the way for Novomatic to operate a casino in the Austrian capital while flooding the city’s arcades with its gaming machines.

Novomatic has always denied these allegations and continues to do so. The company called them “groundless,” adding it would “welcome clarification by an independent court.”

Video Sting

Two months after Sidlo’s appointment, Strache was forced to resign after a covertly filmed video emerged in which he is heard to offer state contracts for cash to a woman posing as a Russian oligarch’s niece.

Strache mentioned Novomatic and several other companies in the video, which he claims made donations to the FPÖ using non-profit organizations to hide them from auditors, a claim Novomatic has also denied.

The identity of those behind the sting, which effectively brought down the coalition government, has never been publicly established with certainty.