Trial in Feldkirch

Deceived the authorities for several years

Although the defendant admitted his "mistakes", he had not acted deliberately.(Bild: Chantall Dorn)

For six years, the accused had received emergency assistance and concealed rental income from the authorities. A case for the Feldkirch Regional Court, where the trial took place on Friday.

The Spanish emigrant is charged with aggravated commercial fraud. Between 2014 and 2020, the man, who was born and lived in Vorarlberg until two years ago, had received 40,000 euros in unemployment benefit. As it turned out, wrongly. This is because he should have declared his income from renting and leasing, as was explicitly stated on the respective applications.

In the case of the German man, it concerns two rented apartments in Meiningen, from which he earns 600 euros a month. During the trial, the accused admitted his "mistake", but otherwise claimed ignorance. "I thought that the amount fell below the marginal earnings threshold and therefore did not have to be reported." After his unemployment benefit was then reduced to 450 euros, he and his wife decided to move to Spain to live with his mother, who was in need of care, and take over the 24-hour care.

Lives from his mother's allowances
Even though the defendant states that he wants to make up for the damage, it remains unclear where he will get the 40,000 euros from. "I myself am 60 percent disabled and have also submitted an application in Germany. However, I don't yet receive a pension. That's why I live off my mother's benefits."

Despite this emergency situation, for Judge Lisa-Sophia Huter there is no way around a guilty verdict in line with the prosecution's case. The final sentence: four months' suspended imprisonment and a fine of 960 euros. The forfeiture amount is waived: "You have confessed, are remorseful and the cuts in unemployment assistance by the AMS have at least partially compensated for the damage", the councilor justifies the verdict. Before she closes the hearing, the judge reminds the convicted man once again: "What you have done is social fraud and is at the expense of the general public. After all, others paid the money for you!"