For fraud

Criminal taxi family on trial

The family was accused of a particular fraud scheme.(Bild: Dorn / Krone KREATIV)

After three days of hearings, the Feldkirch Regional Court has handed down its verdict on a corrupt business family.

The managing director of the cab company based in Oberland, who had two previous convictions, was sentenced to 24 months in prison for fraud and grossly negligent impairment of creditors' interests. His previously blameless brother, who acted as co-managing director, got off with a fully conditional prison sentence of 13 months. However, he must pay a fine of 7200 euros.

Another family member was also given a conditional prison sentence on Friday for grossly negligent impairment of creditors' interests. Judge Lisa Pfeifer imposed a prison sentence of eight months and a fine of 4320 euros. The 53-year-old mother, who was named as the sole shareholder of the GmbH at the time, has to pay a fine of 2160 euros. The verdicts are not yet final.

Creditors defrauded of 200,000 euros
Public prosecutor Julia Berchtold spoke of one of the most serious cases of white-collar crime in Vorarlberg in recent years. The accused brothers of Turkish origin from the district of Bludenz had only founded the cab company in order to take around 200,000 euros for private purposes and ultimately send the limited company into insolvency. In this way, creditors were defrauded of around 200,000 euros and their interests were also impaired by the lack of annual financial statements and inadequate bookkeeping.