among its best-selling games and whose slot machines are installed in the world’s biggest casinos. The company has more than 2,000 gaming facilities across 50 countries.
Prosecutors paint a picture of large-scale influence peddling, alleging that the company promised politicians up to €500,000 for favourable legislation and “to help Novomatic gain a casino license in Vienna and a nationwide online licence”. Monthly fees were part of a sham consulting contract, they claimed in documents seen by Bloomberg News.
While state-owned Casinos Austria’s glamorous halls could easily be the setting for a James Bond movie with its tuxedo-clad guests and evening-gown-adorning women floating around with flutes of Champagne, Graf realised early on that there was a huge untapped market of ordinary people wanting to gamble in just plain old jeans. He put his machines in smoky back rooms of cafes and inns, helping his business take off in the 1990s.
His employees barely get a glimpse of him when he visits the company’s futuristic, gated headquarters in the middle of vineyards close to Vienna, with its spacious, modern office buildings and showrooms displaying the latest gambling machines. He’s brought there in a large black limousine early in the morning and stays all day ensconced with his inner circle in conference rooms.