Image: (APA/AFP/BRANDON MALONE)
The indictment included 50 facts with well over 100 customers, including a former top politician of the FPÖ. The accused was sentenced to eight months, six of which were conditional, for falsifying evidence, forging documents and bodily harm.
650 euros for a vaccination card
The man was employed by the Arbeiter Samariter Bund Österreich (ASBÖ) and was deployed on Impfstrasse in the Austria Center Vienna (ACV). From September 2021 to the end of January 2022, he is said to have stuck badges stamped by the Health Service of the City of Vienna and the ACV in blank vaccination cards and also noted the alleged vaccinations electronically. According to the investigation, he sold the fake vaccination certificates for between 550 and 650 euros. The man, who was convicted of fraud, among other things, was found out and was in custody for months, from which his defense attorney, Philipp Wolm, was able to punch him out.
Judgment not final
In court, the 32-year-old pleaded guilty, and he also admitted to the abuse of his ex-girlfriend. However, he otherwise refused to comment. The judge assessed this and the associated shortening of the proceedings as mitigating, but the large number of facts and the rapid recidivism after the last conviction made things more difficult. By crediting the prior detention, the man does not have to go behind bars, but he does have to behave well for the next three years. The currently unemployed accepted the verdict, the public prosecutor’s office gave no explanation as to why it is not yet final.
Diversion for co-defendants
However, the prosecutor agreed to a diversion for a co-accused 56-year-old. She was accused of providing the 32-year-old with some buyers, arranging meetings with them and sometimes even entertaining the buyers. In some cases, she is said to have taken the money and forwarded it to the main defendant. She has to do 120 hours of community service.
Source: Nachrichten
