It's their own fault!

Sloppy pharmacists lost 62,000 euros

"The money will turn up," the manager of a pharmacy is said to have said after the alleged thief drew his attention to the missing money.

You couldn't be better prepared for a trial involving serious commercial fraud than the accused 26-year-old, who a priori pleaded "not guilty" to stealing a total of 62,145 euros. In a strong voice, without faltering once, the man from northern Burgenland presented his point of view before a marathon of witnesses followed at Eisenstadt Regional Court.

21 daily lottery tickets were stolen
From April 2022 to January 2023, it had been his job to collect the daily lottery tickets from four pharmacies and deposit the money in the bank. Only months later did it emerge that only partial amounts had been transferred to the pharmacies on 22 occasions or that 21 days' worth of sales were missing from the account altogether. The public prosecutor's office explained that the messenger could afford several vacations per year and did not spend more than 130 euros per month - so where did he get the money for his allegedly "lavish lifestyle"? The young man referred to the support of his parents, who confirmed this.

In any case:

"Everyone had access"
In the four pharmacies in question, the daily lottery tickets were placed openly on a table in a back room ready for collection. Everyone had access via the supplier entrance, says the accused, including ex-employees. "In a pharmacy, the key was hanging in a safe in the garbage room. The code to open it was known to everyone and was never changed."

Lawyer Markus Löscher wanted to know how a cleaner could afford to drive a Porsche before his client was acquitted.