23-year-old stole 760,000 euros with an “accident trick”.

In February he stole gold coins worth 760,000 euros from an old man in Klagenfurt after the pensioner had previously been put under massive pressure over the telephone. The verdict was not legally binding for the time being.

The scam is now well known, but is still far too often successful: mostly older people are called by unknown perpetrators who pose as police officers or prosecutors. They explain to their victims that a son or daughter of theirs caused a fatal traffic accident and is in danger of going to prison. In order to prevent this, the person called would have to pay a high “deposit” – usually several tens of thousands of euros. A police officer in plain clothes will collect the money directly from the door.

Rare arrest

That’s what happened in Klagenfurt in February. An almost 90-year-old man desperately rushed to the bank, got gold coins worth 760,000 euros and handed them over to the now accused 23-year-old. Extensive investigations followed and an arrest – rare for such crimes: DNA traces from the Pole were found on the victim’s doorbell. A hit was scored because the 23-year-old had already been convicted in Germany years ago – for a completely similar offense.

These details were already clear before the trial began. But not much more was added during the course of the negotiation. The young man with slicked-back black hair spoke in very monosyllables: Yes, he pleads guilty. Yes, the matter seemed somewhat suspicious to him when he responded to an internet ad for a “courier service”. But: No, he doesn’t know his clients. The loot is still missing.

“courier service”

The defendant said in his questioning by Judge Gerhard Pöllinger-Sorré, who presided over the jury, that he immediately asked whether the job was legal. “He’s insulting my intelligence,” the judge muttered – not for the only time that morning. He also drew the defendant’s attention to the special features of a confession as a mitigating factor: This only has a completely positive impact if it is “comprehensive and remorseful”. Nevertheless, the 23-year-old stuck to it: Even though he had a previous conviction for a very similar crime, he didn’t think much of his “courier service” that took him more than 900 kilometers from Poland to Carinthia.

“The defendant was miles away from a remorseful confession,” said public prosecutor Karin Schweiger in her plea: “He only admits what we already know. He doesn’t name any people behind it or any further details.” Rather, the 23-year-old is “part of an international, unscrupulous group of perpetrators who play on the worries and fears of their victims.” Philipp Tschernitz, the man’s defense attorney, said his client “undoubtedly needs to be punished” – although mitigating factors would certainly be important. “In these fraud cases there is a very professional back team. And of course they don’t send the captain onto the field. But rather some foot soldier who is unlucky if he is arrested.” The fact that the man knows nothing about his clients is “not unbelievable, but part of the business.”

“Low position of the accused in the hierarchy of criminality”

Judge Pöllinger-Sorré said in his verdict that the jury had also “assumed that the defendant had a low position in the hierarchy of criminality.” The confession was only partial and was neither remorseful nor comprehensive: “The defendant’s only remorse is that he was caught.” The prison sentence is based on the “reprehensible approach” of taking advantage of the victim’s helplessness. And the “general preventive considerations” also played a role: “To signal that there is no place in Austria for criminal tourism or, in particular, for this particularly reprehensible form.”

The defendant asked for three days to think about it, but prosecutor Schweiger made no explanation.

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