Fresh questions are being raised over former Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz's bid for re-election after he was drawn back into the heart of a scandal over a fake
Russian oligarch that brought his government down. Mr Kurz, who was, at 32, one of the world's youngest democratically elected leaders, lost his grip on power earlier this year when he was forced lost a no confidence vote and was forced into a snap election. At the time, he distanced himself from leaked videos showing his far-Right coalition partners offering state contracts to a fake Russian oligarch in return for illicit financing back in 2017. But this week an investigative news outlet claimed one of his closest aides took five hard drives to a data company to be 'shredded' just days after the videos of his vice-Chancellor, Hans Christian Strache emerged. According to Falter magazine a burly man entered the premises of a data destruction company in Vienna carrying five hard drives on May 23. Who secretly recorded Mr Strache at an Ibiza villa still remains a mystery Visibly nervous, he introduced himself as “Walter Maisinger” and recorded his business in the visitor book as “private.” The incident piqued interest as "Mr Maisinger" took the chewed up remains and dropped them back into the shredding machine, not once but twice. Maisinger was in fact an alias. His real name was Arno M and he was a close aide to Mr Kurz. At the time of its release, Mr Kurz claimed to have been shocked by the video, which was recorded before he entered government with Mr Starche’s far-Right Freedom Party. But by the end of May he too was removed from office after Austria’s parliament supported a no confidence motion against him. Who secretly recorded Mr Strache at an Ibiza villa still remains a mystery. But questions have been asked about whether Mr Kurz could know about the affair long before it became public. One newspaper claims to have seen email communications which, if authentic, suggest he knew about the video as early as February 2018. The 32-year-old, who will lead the conservative People’s Party into a snap September election, has claimed the destruction of the hard drives was a “legitimate” act to protect unrelated sensitive data. Before the latest chapter of the scandal this week Mr Kurz was hovering at about 37 per cent in the polls. This is a rise from the 31.5 percent the party won in the October 2017 national
election - but short of his goal of 40%.