After dubious real estate transactions: appraiser now in custody

On Friday, the Wels regional court imposed pre-trial detention on the psychiatric expert who, together with a lawyer and a notary, is said to have deprived wealthy demented clients of their properties.

• The OÖN reported: After being charged with a real estate deal on Lake Traunsee, the judiciary is investigating a new case [OÖNplus]

The reasons for detention were assumed to be the risk of collusion and the commission of a crime. The suspect is said to be a well-known Linz psychiatrist. Yesterday, Thursday, as the OÖNachrichten exclusively reported, a search of the lawyers’ offices was carried out.

The lawyers are said to have drawn up contracts and the psychiatrists have drawn up reports of convenience. In one case, as reported, charges of serious fraud have already been brought against two managing directors of a real estate company, a real estate agent, two lawyers and a notary. They are said to have bought her property on Lake Traunsee from a woman who was no longer legally competent at the time of the sale at a price that was far too low. The owner is said to have been deprived of at least 900,000 euros.

More allegations

The lawyer and the notary are also being targeted by the public prosecutor’s office because of another case: They are suspected of having persuaded a woman suffering from dementia to sign a handover agreement, two donation agreements in the event of her death and a power of attorney for health care. The prosecution assumes that the woman was not aware that with her signature she was transferring her entire agricultural property in Pasching (Linz-Land district) including real estate assets to her nephew. In a previous legal dispute that lasted seven years, she had always emphasized that her nephew should not receive any property from her.