One victim struck

Luxury watch gang only robbed fakes

The accused Moroccan in Vienna's Landl district.(Bild: Sophie Pratschner, Krone KREATIV)

Three men traveled to Austria especially for the purpose of robbery - and they had their sights set on expensive luxury watches. The victims observed them over a longer period of time. However, they were not particularly successful: two Rolex owners fought back and a stolen Patek Philippe turned out to be worthless. A prison sentence was nevertheless imposed.

"I suspect that I was already being watched as I drove into the underground parking garage. I was driving my Ferrari," a 47-year-old man told the Vienna Provincial Court. The self-employed car dealer was out and about in the city center on May 11, then had a coffee at the Park Hyatt Hotel - before going to his car in the garage of the luxury hotel. 

40,000 euro Rolex as a target
Three men followed him wherever he went. While one stood on the lookout at the staircase, two struck: "I was standing by the cash machine when someone grabbed me from behind," the witness recalls. The target: the 40,000 euro Rolex on the 47-year-old's wrist. But he knew how to defend himself and dealt one of them a heavy blow - the three perpetrators fled.

The perpetrators ripped the Rolex Daytona off the 47-year-old's wrist and completely damaged it in the process - fortunately, the insurance company covered the damage of 11,000 euros.(Bild: zVg)

"The group of perpetrators wanted to rob wealthy people of expensive luxury watches," said the public prosecutor. The car dealer and watch collector was not the only victim of the Arab clan. Three days earlier, they tried to snatch a Rolex from the wrist of a Romanian tourist - without success.

Robbed luxury watch turned out to be a fake
In Vienna's city center, only one attack was successful: they robbed a man of his Patek Philippe watch. A model that was supposed to be worth tens of thousands of euros - but on closer inspection turned out to be a fake ...

One of the less successful watch robbery gang is now in the dock in Vienna - the 35-year-old is the only one who was unable to flee abroad. He is accused of two counts of attempted robbery and one count of aggravated robbery in connection with a criminal organization. The Moroccan man claims: "These people seduced me with money. It's not in my nature to rob and attack people."

Philipp Winkler defends the 35-year-old watch robber.(Bild: Gerhard Bartel)

Philipp Winkler's client was approached in Brussels when he was in financial difficulties. Together with the two other suspects, he then flew to Vienna. However, defense lawyer Winkler denied that the three were a professional group of criminals. There were simply too many mistakes: they never wore masks, did not pay attention to the cameras in the parking garage and chose the two-metre tall and 110-kilogram car dealer as their target - whom they could almost not have overpowered in pairs.

Because the 35-year-old is blameless, confesses fully at the trial and even names his accomplices, his sentence is quite light: three and a half years in prison. The Moroccan accepts the sentence.