Investigation underway

Embezzlement at the mountain railroad in the luxury ski resort of Lech

Fraud case at the Lech Oberlech mountain railroad.

(Bild: Bergbahn Lech-Oberlech)

There is excitement in Lech am Arlberg in Vorarlberg: a case of embezzlement has been uncovered at the Lech-Oberlech mountain railroad. Employees are believed to have pocketed around 370,000 euros. The public prosecutor's office is investigating. 

A case of possible serious fraud has been uncovered in Lech am Arlberg. As reported by Bergban Lech-Oberlech, the public prosecutor's office is already investigating the case: in February 2024, Necip Lucian, Managing Director of Bergbahn Lech-Oberlech GmbH & Co KG, discovered that former and current employees had been lining their own pockets while bypassing the company. For years, rental fees for Zipfelbobs of the mountain railroad, which also operates the toboggan run between Oberlech and Lech, were apparently collected privately from employees. Extrapolated over ten years, the company is likely to have incurred a net loss of around 370,000 euros, according to the company's press release. 

In this context, the tax authorities were deprived of a considerable amount of VAT and income tax payments. Both the tax office and the public prosecutor's office in Feldkirch have therefore been informed by the company about this matter, the statement continued. Apparently, in the past, employees did not properly record the lending fees, which were only collected in cash, in the cash register or accounting system in order to later divide them among themselves. Each of the persons allegedly involved is likely to have received several thousand euros tax-free per season. 

Shareholders were informed
The shareholders were informed at an extraordinary general meeting. At the same time, an internal investigation was launched with the support of an auditing and tax consultancy firm and a law firm. Following the findings of the internal investigation, "a corresponding and extensive disclosure has now been made to the tax authorities and a statement of facts has also been submitted to the Feldkirch public prosecutor's office", the company reported on Tuesday.

Damage to be reclaimed
According to the company's internal investigations, "a total of 12 former and current employees are suspected of tax evasion and the crime of embezzlement or misappropriation". As far as the financial loss incurred by the mountain railroad is concerned, this "will be reclaimed from the persons involved through legal action."