The 26-year-old was recruited by the gang while he was in prison, where he was serving a sentence for drug offences. After his release, he assigned two “fundraisers” to the organization.
These two men visited 15 elderly people in Vienna in April and June last year and made the victims believe they were police officers and that they needed to get their savings and jewelery from him that burglars were causing mischief in their neighborhood and that their apartment was no longer safe. Non-culpable damages: 530,000 euros. The judgment is not final. Defense lawyer Michael Dohr asked for time to think about it, but senior public prosecutor Norbert Hauser did not make any statement at first.
10,000 euros for intermediary services
The accused said he joined the group “because he was a good friend who talked to me. ” The educated hairdresser rejected the accusation made by the Economic and Corruption Public Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA) that he was a logistician for the criminal group. He did not obtain fake police ID cards or crypto cell phones or coordinate activities within the group. The 26-year-old said he received around 10,000 euros for his brokerage services.
When determining the sentence, the defendant’s confession was accepted as a mitigating factor. What made matters more difficult was the rapid relapse after the previous conviction and “taking advantage of the particular vulnerability of the victims,” as the judge put it: “It is not possible for old people to be excluded in such a depressing way.”
