Trial in Innsbruck

Banker (28) with a gambling addiction emptied the vault

Symbolic image(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

A Tyrolean bank employee (28) is said to have swindled more than one million euros with withdrawals and trickery. All that remained was imprisonment - and the question: How can something like this go unnoticed for two years?

The defense lawyer began by outlining the path to financial ruin: "My client started gambling on his cell phone out of boredom in times of coronavirus, when there was hardly anything to do at the bank." At first, he only stole small amounts to pay the resulting debts, but at some point he completely lost control and the overview. "It all went to extremes step by step," added the remorseful and confessed defendant (28).

Step by step, everything went to extremes.

Der Angeklagte

A huge sum in the end
A shocking result: according to the investigation, the 28-year-old is said to have taken around 530,000 euros in cash and paid out a further 570,000 to himself using forged customer signatures. It remained unclear at the trial why the missing money was not discovered for around two years - until an appeal brought the serious malversations to light.

The defendant at the jury trial at Innsbruck Regional Court(Bild: Markus Stegmayr, Krone KREATIV)

The defendant admitted his gambling addiction and is now undergoing therapy. The panel of lay assessors ultimately handed down a three-year prison sentence, one year of which was unconditional. After a short period of reflection, the young man accepted the sentence - hence the final judgment.