Ibiza affair: mastermind behind the scandal video arrested in Berlin

With a secretly recorded video, the "Ibiza Affair" in 2019 led to the overthrow of Sebastian Kurz's first government.

Now the man behind the recordings was caught in Berlin.

Vienna - The alleged mastermind of the

was caught on Thursday by special forces in Berlin-Pankow.

One and a half years after the video recordings were published and the

overthrown

, the

Public Prosecutor

and the Berlin police

confirmed

the arrest to the German Press Agency on Friday.

The

“Die Presse”

had previously

reported on it.

The man is a

who appears in the video himself and was wanted with a European arrest warrant.

The video was recorded in 2017 in a villa on the Spanish island of

.

The later Austrian Vice Chancellor

from the right-wing

had

spoken

to an alleged Russian

about illegal party donations and large orders.

He showed himself to be susceptible to corruption in the recording.

So far,

denies

all of these allegations.

He described the evening as an "open shift".

After the

and the

had published in 2019 excerpts of the video in May, led to the resignation

from the

of chancellor

and later elections.

The arrested person, a former security advisor residing in Vienna and a

is said to have arranged

meeting with the alleged

and bugged the house.

In the hour-long recordings of the evening, from which further excerpts were published in the summer, the man repeatedly joins the conversation as an interpreter and mediator for supposed deals.

After the video became known, he went into hiding.

Ibiza mastermind: The decision on the handover procedure lies with the German authorities

In another case, at the end of October, he testified as a witness in an

via video conference

.

As

reported in

the

is accused not only of illegally recording sound and film, but also of trafficking cocaine.

According to the

, the German authorities are now responsible for the decision to initiate a surrender procedure.

Strache

was pleased about the arrest.

"I am happy about the arrest of the criminal mastermind of the

(even after such a long time) and now I hope for a quick and complete clarification and also for the uncovering of the other accomplices, clients and backers!" He wrote on his Facebook Page.