Trial in Feldkirch

Scrap dealer not a major fraudster after all

The 34-year-old Romanian can breathe a sigh of relief.(Bild: Chantal Dorn)

A 34-year-old Romanian was acquitted of the charge of serious fraud by the jury at the Feldkirch Regional Court. The soup was simply too thin at the end for a guilty verdict. 

As public prosecutor Manfred Melchammer did not make a statement, the verdict is not yet legally binding, but defense lawyer Nicolas Stieger assumes that the acquittal won for his client will stand. "The evidence was far from sufficient for a guilty verdict," was Stieger's initial reaction after the trial in Feldkirch.

Entrepreneur defrauded of 238,000 euros?
The public prosecutor's office had brought charges against a 34-year-old Romanian for serious fraud. The scrap metal dealer allegedly deceived another dealer in Germany into believing that he was a customer willing to pay and in this way ultimately defrauded the entrepreneur of a whopping 238,000 euros. Specifically, the case concerns two deliveries of several tons of copper, which the defendant allegedly did not pay for.

The acquittal did not come as a great surprise to me. The fact is that the evidence was far from sufficient for a guilty verdict.

Rechtsanwalt Nicolas Stieger

He declared himself not guilty and presented his side of the story to the jury: For example, the seller had assured him at the time that the containers contained 90 percent copper. In fact, however, it was only 70 to 80 percent. "I then called the seller and said that this had resulted in a loss of 150,000 euros for me. He then said that we would make up the difference and that I should supply him with granulate." Shortly afterwards, the German dealer then supplied him with 15 tons of cable drums.

Claims referred to civil proceedings
Although the former seller, who has now been called as a witness, can no longer remember the verbal agreement with the defendant regarding a counter-settlement, it is nevertheless clear to the Senate at the end of the trial that the evidence is a little too thin for a guilty verdict in the sense of the indictment. The private party's claims were referred to the civil courts.