A former professional soccer player and now a police officer is said to have lured out the savings of a number of police colleagues with the intention of deception and gambled away the money by using it for currency speculation. 27 victims – primarily police officers – are included in the indictment. In the end he was found guilty on 20 counts.
A panel of jury members (chairman: Philipp Schnabel) imposed 20 months in prison on the hitherto blameless man, all of which were pardoned conditionally. In addition, he must repay the injured party the amounts collected – between 1,000 and 42,000 euros – the total damage sum on which the judgment is based was 129,000 euros. The man in his mid-thirties was acquitted of a single charge, and the proceedings were dismissed in six cases because those affected did not comply with their summons. If prosecutors pursue these facts further, the police officer’s sentence could be increased.
Judgment not final
The judgment is not final. The police officer asked for time to think things over, but the public prosecutor initially made no statement. If the judgment becomes final, the police officer would have to reorient himself professionally. A sentence of more than one year’s imprisonment automatically results in the loss of office, even if the sentence is conditional in its entirety.
The defendant, who pleaded “not guilty,” has an interesting professional history. At first he earned his money as a professional soccer player and made it into the second-highest domestic league with kicking. After the end of his sporting career, he initially worked as a vacuum cleaner salesman before he was hired by the police. And there the colleagues noticed his interest in so-called forex trading. Two currencies are traded against each other, the purchase of one results in the simultaneous sale of the other currency. This form of speculation is considered extremely risky due to the sudden price fluctuations. Despite this, the accused promised his colleagues a secure and extremely lucrative form of investment with substantial profits in the shortest possible time and persuaded them to give him money for speculation, the prosecutor said. Not least thanks to his self-confident appearance, he knew how to convince.
Targeted looking for investments among colleagues
What is certain is that from the end of April 2019 to February 2021, several 100,000 euros in third-party assets were lost after the police officer had already messed up his own financial reserves and those of his partner at the time. He had even taken out loans and moved his car to get back the lost money. Because this hope did not materialize, he is said to have looked around among his colleagues for investments. Among the officials who wanted to quickly increase their savings were a number of colleagues from the department where the accused worked. A police student handed him almost 80,000 euros, around half of which came from his father. A colleague even dissolved her boys’ savings account. Among the injured are the representatives of the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Combating Terrorism (LVT), whom the man met at a training course.
“I didn’t promise anything. I said to everyone, just give me the money that won’t hurt you when it’s gone,” the thirty-something claimed in his suspect hearing. He was provisionally suspended from duty after the charges were brought. As far as his qualifications as a currency speculator are concerned, he has “no official certificate”, but has been dealing with cryptocurrencies and forex in detail since 2018: “I watched a lot of videos and had two or three books at home. I read them through several times .”
“I’m not Jesus”
When asked how the speculative activity for the colleagues came about, the accused said: “We met at the office and talked about it.” He did not approach anyone and “did not actively recruit people”. When asked if, in the event of a loss, he would have made up for it with his own capital, the policeman replied: “I’m not Jesus.”
In general, the official apparently didn’t think about the key he would have used to distribute profits in the event of successful transactions: “We didn’t figure that out. I would have done that in the end. We would have sat down and it and divides.”
Defense Counsel: Client not unlawfully enriched
A “total loss” is always within the realm of possibility, he always said that very clearly, the police officer contradicted the prosecution – and also several colleagues who testified afterwards as witnesses. Which led judge Philipp Schnabel to make a witty remark: “So you’re surrounded by police officers who are telling untruths.”
Defense attorney Johannes Maximilian Fouchs emphasized that damage of 400,000 euros and almost 50 victims had originally been assumed: “But 22 cases were dropped because these people did not feel deceived.” In general, his client had not enriched himself unlawfully, not a single cent of the money from his colleagues went into his pocket, but flowed into the trading account. “You have to ask yourself, who are the people who believed him, that you can turn 5,000 euros into 20,000 euros in one year. They were young, actively serving police officers who had a very demanding education behind them and who are responsible for our safety every day,” noted Fouchs.
140,000 euros in debt
The defense attorney also pointed out that the defendant owes 140,000 euros and owns nothing but a rented apartment in Simmering and a ten-year-old car: “The money has been gambled away without exception,” Fouchs regretted. And finally remarked: “But not everything that is not beautiful is punishable by law.”
The witnesses who were questioned by the court should not be particularly fond of their colleagues. “I thought he had more talent than me. When it comes to trading. A mistake, madness,” said a young official. Another noted that the defendant emphasized that the software he was using “creates the risk. There is no risk of loss”. This promise was decisive for him to give him 5,000 euros: “I didn’t have millions on my side. I’m building a house, Mr. Rat.” A third police officer hoped that the EUR 3,000 he had invested would turn into EUR 20,000: “I assumed that he knew what he was doing with it. He said it was a very safe bet.” He relied on that: “He’s a police officer.”
