Beatpatrol organiser faces financial police and tax probes

Chaos at the Beatpatrol electronic music festival in Vienna in early September has led to investigations by Austria’s Financial Police and the St Pölten public prosecutor’s office, ORF reports.

Authorities had required 100 toilets at the festival in Vienna’s Freudenau, but only eight were available. The gates therefore could not open, and it took seven hours for visitors to enter. They were then able to see only three acts. On the second day, just 4,000 people were admitted because of the shortage of toilets.

Visitors are seeking refunds, and lawsuits have been filed against the event company. Numerous technicians and suppliers have also reported unpaid invoices, according to information obtained outside ORF’s cameras.

The organiser, Sappho Studio GmbH, is listed in its legal notice as being based in St Pölten. But at the address in Ratzersdorf, there is only a green mailbox, the report said.

Prosecutors examine possible tax evasion

The owner of the event company told ZIB2 reporter Madeleine Gromann that the events were currently being reviewed. The Financial Police confirmed that it was investigating.

The investigation also involves a man who has been under scrutiny by the St Pölten public prosecutor’s office for some time on suspicion of tax evasion. He has usually been involved in the various companies behind the festival since its foundation. Almost all of those companies eventually became insolvent.

He is also said to have worked for the company that organised this year’s Beatpatrol festival in Vienna. In response to questions, he said he was not authorised to sign on behalf of the company and that 80 per cent of the costs incurred in advance had been paid. He did not respond to questions about the investigations against him.

Beatpatrol was founded in St Pölten in 2009 and was held at the VAZ venue there until 2021. It later moved to Vienna’s Marx Halle, then to the Design Center Linz, before being held in Vienna’s Freudenau this September.