In May 2019, footage from 2017 was released showing Strache suggesting he could offer business contracts in exchange for political support from a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch.

After a series of losses in state elections, rumours spread that Strache would run for the office of national party leader against Haider's sister, Ursula Haubner.

The high risk of Haubner's defeat was probably one of the events that induced Haider to set up a new party, the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ).

[12] In August 2012, Strache caused condemnation and outrage when posting a picture on Facebook that was a caricature depicting a banker with a hooked nose and Star of David cufflinks.

[16] On 17 May 2019 a video was released from a July 2017 meeting in Ibiza, Spain, appearing to show Strache and Johann Gudenus discussing underhanded political practices.

[17][18] In the video, both politicians appeared receptive to proposals by a mysterious woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch Igor Makarov, discussing providing the FPÖ positive news coverage in return for business contracts.

[27] Flynn had just helped lead the effort to elect Trump and served as his National Security Advisor for 24 days in January through February 2017.

[28] Also in November, Austrian far-right politicians Norbert Hofer and Strache went to Russia in order to become go-betweens to facilitate cooperation between Putin and Trump.

[29][30] Flynn later resigned after information surfaced that he had misled the FBI and Vice President Mike Pence about the nature and content of his communications with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak.

[31][32][33] Strache was indicted on grounds of bribery by the Public Prosecutorial Service for Economic Cases and Corruption (WKStA) in the Criminal Court of Vienna.

[34] The criminal charge accused the FPÖ – under Strache's leadership – of having accepted illicit campaign donations totaling €12,000 from Walter Grubmüller, the owner of a private nursing home in Vienna.

[36] The amendment would have caused the fund to also cover Grubmüller's nursing home and allowed him to charge the ÖGK – Austria's tax-funded universal healthcare system – for patients who choose the public option.