Hideout Raided

They’ve got him! HiPP blackmailer apprehended

A success for the specially formed “Glas” task force—and a cautious sigh of relief in the mystery surrounding the poisoned baby food that led to empty store shelves.(Bild: Eva Manhart)

The mastermind behind the HiPP blackmail has been caught! For 38 days, the rat poison thriller involving baby food jars had left hundreds of thousands of parents in sheer terror. Today, investigators raided the cowardly criminal’s hideout in Austria.

The arrest was made in the state of Salzburg following a cross-border investigation by “SOKO Glas.” According to initial reports from the “Krone,” everything points to this being the work of a lone perpetrator. The 39-year-old man reportedly demanded two million euros in cryptocurrency from the German baby food giant.

No statement yet
He bought baby food in supermarkets, added rat poison, and put it back on the shelf. To make children sick? To kill them? There is still no statement from the man who—whatever his motive—went to such lengths. Investigators are holding him in continuous interrogation.

Investigations in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Burgenland
It was a true feat of strength that ultimately led to success. 38 days after the alarm was raised. As reported multiple times, poisoned HiPP jars were found and seized in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Schützen am Gebirge in Burgenland. They all bore a distinctive mark: a white sticker, framed by a red circle, on the bottom of the jar.

Feverish search for jar number six
Six tampered jars are believed to have been in circulation—but only five have been seized to date. There is still no trace of the one from Burgenland.

Managing Director Stefan Hipp remains on high alert, as the advertising slogan “I stand by this with my name” has inadvertently taken a hit due to the criminal case: “Boom! Suddenly, our world was a different place,” he said in an interview with “Krone” local editor Christoph Budin. “The focus now is on finding that one glass, which unfortunately hasn’t been successful yet.”

Electronic traces and video surveillance
Back to the alleged perpetrator: He probably miscalculated a bit; his blackmail email ended up in the company’s digital abyss, and it all ended with him leaving electronic traces via his fake email address—something he likely didn’t anticipate...

Nor did he count on video surveillance in supermarkets: that, too, ultimately proved to be the blackmailer’s undoing.

Expert report still pending
Baby food “Carrots with Potatoes” (190 grams), mixed with 15 micrograms of rat poison. What effect this could have on a baby’s small, perhaps even weakened body is unclear. The results of the additional toxicological examination commissioned by the Eisenstadt Public Prosecutor’s Office are still pending.

The report is crucial for the charges against the arrested blackmailer. Currently, in addition to intentional endangerment of the public, an investigation is underway for attempted intentional aggravated assault. However, if the amount of poison is or was strong enough to have killed children, the charge would even be expanded to attempted murder.

Is the blackmailer a former employee? Many questions remain unanswered in this poison mystery. We will answer them.