Sofa taken away

Millions in debt – and charged with 2215 euros

The accused Viennese man made his furniture disappear - it should have been seized.(Bild: Urbantschitsch Mario)

The 27-year-old defendant is on trial in Vienna on Wednesday with a debt of €24 million. He is accused of breach of trust and fraudulent crida, as he had passed on his already pawned furniture and electrical appliances to his friends before they could be confiscated. 

"How are you?" the presiding judge asks the defendant in a relaxed banter at the beginning of the trial. However, this cheerful mood ends abruptly after the 27-year-old drops the "I'm in debt to the tune of 24 million euros" bomb in the courtroom. Apparently, the debts had accumulated in failed real estate projects.

The young Viennese man is accused of fraudulent crida and breach of trust due to the sale of items from his apartment that should have been taken from him to satisfy his creditors. 

Side table, not gold bars
In view of his mountain of debt, however, the items that, according to the indictment, he has confiscated from the state will not make the case any easier. Because it is not expensive watches, gold bars or cufflinks that he took away, but simple furnishings. According to the public prosecutor's office in Vienna, these were specifically a side table, a television, a two-seater sofa, a couch and various small electrical items - with a total value of 2215 euros.

The landlord told me to clear the things away.

Die Rechtfertigung des Wieners vor Gericht

Debt paid to friends
However, when the bailiff went to collect the "valuable" pledge, he found the door to the apartment locked and the defendant was also nowhere to be found. The landlord had thrown the 27-year-old out of the apartment along with all the interior furnishings before the pledged property could be confiscated. "The landlord told me to clear the things away," says the Viennese, justifying why he had started to give his belongings to friends - also to reduce his debts to them. "I never intended to cheat," the defendant asserts.

The defendant's lawyer comes to his client's aid by philosophizing about the question of whether the actual owner of the apartment's interior was not the 27-year-old's father. After all, he had completely financed the belongings. As a witness, the bailiff made it clear that the young father had been informed in detail about the conditions of the pledge. 

Conditional prison sentence
After a brief discussion with his lawyer, the defendant finally accepts responsibility for the breach of trust and asks the court to consider diversion - but this is rejected. The man is sentenced to ten months' conditional imprisonment, but the verdict is not yet final. However, he was acquitted of the accusation of fraudulent crida.