Head of Austrian state holdings group, stung by texts with Kurz, quits

FILE PHOTO: Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, wearing a protective face mask, talks to journalists during his visit to a public school, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Vienna, Austria, June 2, 2021. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo

VIENNA (Reuters) - The head of Austrian state holdings group OBAG, Thomas Schmid, stepped down on Tuesday as prosecutors investigate whether Chancellor Sebastian Kurz perjured himself in saying he was not involved in appointing Schmid and OBAG's supervisory board.

Text message exchanges between Kurz and Schmid, a civil servant loyal to Kurz's conservative party, were part of a parliamentary commission's investigation into possible corruption revealed in the so-called Ibiza sting video that brought down Kurz's coalition with the far right in 2019.