A 25-year-old construction worker had to answer to a jury at the Korneuburg Regional Court for damage to property, dangerous threats and – the main charge – fraudulent Krida. Insolvency proceedings were opened on March 11 last year for the scaffolding company in Rannersdorf, which ran in the Romanian’s name. In the course of this, almost half a million euros are said to have been set aside, according to public prosecutor Katharina Wittmann in her indictment.
The accused would defend himself, Wittmann somewhat anticipated defense attorney Alexander Prenner’s plea that someone else had actually been the managing director of the company. The prosecutor qualified this as a pure “protective claim” by the young Romanian. However, Prenner was able to counter this with some good arguments. According to this, his client – a simple scaffolder – should have registered a company at the age of 23 without any knowledge of German and should have earned half a million within a short time.
Patterns in the criminal sector of the construction industry
Prenner pointed to a pattern – “company up, company down” – in the criminal realm of the construction industry. You choose a young fellow, send him out as a straw man, with the actual doers staying in the background. They would then deduct the proceeds and the lad would be in trouble. The presiding judge Carina Schwarz now had to check the credibility of these very contradictory versions in the process.
It was easier to dissolve a legal sideshow of the process. On July 21 last year, the 44-year-old landlord in the residential complex in Rannersdorf was threatened by the 25-year-old with a knife and a flower pot, which the 44-year-old was thrown at. And as a bonus, there were a few scratches for the rental company’s car. The Romanian pleaded guilty to this without any ifs or buts.
Signed because from the same village
However, he saw no guilt on the charge of fraudulent Krida. He only wanted to help a compatriot who came from the same village as he did and signed a few things. Otherwise he had nothing to do with the company. So Schwarz asked whether he had paid wages. No, he always got his wages from his village friend. Whether he would have given orders to other workers. No, like the others, he was assigned by said friend.
The question and answer session continued happily, since former work colleagues or even subordinates were invited as witnesses. Very unanimously, they said that some of them didn’t even know that the 25-year-old was nominally their boss. He worked with them normally. At this point, the hearing faltered because two important witnesses were absent due to illness. On the one hand the accountant of the ominous scaffolding company – and the one everyone took for the boss. adjourned.
