Gold exchanged

Viennese woman ripped off with screws in curtain deal

The Frenchman (22) has been in custody in Vienna's Josefstadt prison since February.

(Bild: Pratschner Sophie, Krone KREATIV)

Instead of earning several hundred thousand euros with curtains, a Viennese woman found herself the victim of a rip-off deal. A 22-year-old simply exchanged the agreed gold commission for a packet of screws. The young Frenchman is now standing trial in Vienna, but the masterminds and the gold ducats remain hidden.

A Viennese curtain saleswoman smelled a huge deal in February: a man offered to sell her curtains worth almost 330,000 euros to a Croatian buyer over the phone. A commission of 95,200 euros was agreed in return - in gold. Of course, this was to be checked in advance by a colleague of the caller. A 22-year-old man came into the woman's store, checked the box of ducats and left again.

Screws instead of gold ducats
When the curtain saleswoman opened the small box containing the gold ducats herself, she was in for a nasty surprise: instead of valuable precious metal, all she found were nuts and bolts. The young Frenchman had exchanged the box and had long since fled to his home country with the loot. But that was not his last visit to Vienna: a short time later he was arrested and extradited.

Rip-deal gang also wanted in Switzerland
However, there is no trace of the gold. And the 22-year-old in the Vienna regional court can't help either. "I didn't get any of the money. I had no advantage. I was afraid that he would hurt me. I only received instructions on what to do and when to do it," he explained to the jury. He was only a small part of a French gang that specialized in international rip deals - the group is also under investigation in Switzerland. 

Lawyer Lukas Hruby (Arbacher-Stöger law firm) defends the young Frenchman in the Vienna regional court.

(Bild: Martin Jöchl)

His defense lawyer Lukas Hruby (Arbacher-Stöger law firm) also explains: "He is the smallest cog, the lowest level. The last act of this rip deal is not the most complex. Even people like my client, who is not the brightest candle on the cake, can manage that." The 22-year-old had never questioned his instructions and did not even know the name of his client. He also had no knowledge of the exact value of the loot. 

And the panel of lay judges believed him. The Frenchman is acquitted of the charge of membership of a criminal organization: "Whether the defendant had knowledge of the network cannot be proven with certainty," explains the council. What remains is two years of partial imprisonment, including eight months in prison for grand theft and money laundering.