Bought, never paid for

Nice living without money: property fraudster sentenced

An unusual fraudster landed in the dock in Klagenfurt. The entrepreneur bought real estate in Carinthia for more than 1.3 million euros, put his furniture in it and lived in a nice home - but never paid a cent. He now has an address behind bars for the time being; further investigations are still ongoing.

Not even defense lawyer Mario Hopf has any sympathy for his client: "You don't get it!", he grumbles when the 58-year-old defendant tries to explain that he is a fraudster, but somehow not. He had hoped for millions in loans from a dubious Irish-African company and probably wanted to treat himself in advance.

What happened? The fabric retailer, who according to his own statements has a high turnover in the fashion industry and a monthly salary of 5,200 euros, is apparently bankrupt, as the court found out. Nevertheless, last summer he responded to real estate advertisements in Carinthia, where first a beautiful villa and then an equally attractive condominium were sold in the Spittal area.

The real estate fraudster temporarily has a new residential address - in Klagenfurt prison.(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

According to the indictment, the man acquired both by purchase contract - and without a cent. "You even managed to get the keys and move in," marveled Judge Michaela Sanin. "What did the estate agents check?"

Three years of partial imprisonment
But as the air got thinner and thinner, the residential nomad went into hiding, which earned him a prison sentence. "A misunderstanding," he says. "I could have cleared everything up." He still has time to do so, as his new home address is Klagenfurt prison for the time being: three years in prison, one of them unconditional. The sentence is not yet final.