Fur, carpets and co.

Hundreds of victims ripped off with fake auction house

The 47-year-old fake auctioneer in court in Vienna.

(Bild: Martin Jöchl, Krone KREATIV)

Under the guise of fake auction houses, a 47-year-old man swindled 282 victims out of their valuables. The otherwise talkative German did not say much in the Vienna provincial court, except: "Absolutely guilty. Absolutely guilty." The victims are anything but satisfied with the verdict.

Ashamed, the 47-year-old takes his seat in the middle of the large jury courtroom in Vienna. His victims sit behind him in the first two rows, giving him dirty looks. After all, he has robbed them of their property and hundreds of thousands of euros. Under the guise of fake auction houses, he promised to auction off fur coats, carpets, paintings, gold and jewelry. However, most of the pensioners never saw their valuables again.

"Every single fact is true"
"He has a certain acquisition business when it comes to antiques," explains the public prosecutor. He ran the illegal business professionally: Newspaper advertisements, persuasive websites and sales events in Carinthia. When dealing with his customers, the German is said to have been very talkative; today in court he was taciturn but confessed. His defense lawyer Peter Philipp: "He is making the statement today that every single fact is true."

Defense lawyer Peter Philipp

(Bild: Gerhard Bartel)

And that's 282 charges after all: serious commercial fraud in countless cases, embezzlement, faking an offense punishable by law and giving false evidence. The 47-year-old himself commented: "Absolutely guilty, completely guilty." This will probably save the court weeks of trial. Because after his lawyer Peter Philipp acknowledges one private party connection after another in the amount of several thousand euros, a verdict is reached after three hours: three years in prison.

Furs found in the cellar
The injured parties present are not satisfied with this, they find the sentence too lenient. The panel of lay assessors argued that he had been rehabilitated: the German now works for a mobile phone provider. He has already served half of his prison term in pre-trial detention, and his defense attorney will apply for an ankle bracelet for the remaining six months.

During the investigation, some of the stolen valuables were recovered from the fake auctioneer. "He hoarded them in his apartment and in his cellar," the public prosecutor explains. 600 fur coats were seized in bin bags in a cellar compartment - for which he demanded cleaning fees of up to 200 euros. Although they were returned to their rightful owners, they were no longer happy with them. Mold and moths had long since made the garments their own ...