Record proceedings

Meinl: Still not finished after 15 years

In 2009, the dazzling entrepreneur Julius Meinl V. was taken into custody. He will soon be released.

15 years ago, the imprisonment of Julius Meinl V. made headlines. Pre-trial detention including record bail: 100 million euros. The money flowed. Meinl served 48 hours. In 2024, the proceedings have still not been legally concluded. The next record.

100,000 investors damaged by 1.7 billion
According to "Krone" information, the proceedings against Meinl and others will be discontinued. They are alleged to have defrauded 100,000 investors at Meinl-European-Land of a total of 1.7 billion in real estate transactions. An expert opinion provided definitive exoneration in 2022. A final report by SOKO Meinl was published in 2018. A preliminary report has been with the Ministry of Justice for many months. When asked a few days ago, the Vienna public prosecutor's office said that they had not yet received any feedback.

The Meinl proceedings have been ongoing since 2008. Banker Julius Meinl was taken into custody in 2009. He has since received his record bail back.(Bild: Kronen Zeitung)

"With 15 years of proceedings, the judiciary has a problem"
High-ranking lawyers criticize the long duration of such cases. A former high court judge told the "Krone" newspaper: "A court must not only have heard the case within a reasonable period of time, but must also have reached a decision. If the judiciary is not able to do this in 15 years, it has a problem."

This is also the view of celebrity lawyer Manfred Ainedter. Like the new Supreme Court President Georg Kodek, he criticizes the length of proceedings. Ainedter points to 2nd place in the ranking. Buwog, Grasser and Co. have been in the spotlight since 2009. Ainedter: "In February 2023, we filed an appeal for annulment against the first judgment. We are still waiting. It's unbearable."