After donation fraud

“Feels like we never had a life”

The children of esotericist Gabriela M. in court.

(Bild: Dostal Harald)

The case caused quite a stir last September! The esoteric Gabriela M., who claimed to be an "angel" with healing powers, was arrested in Zell am Moos. On Wednesday, her two children stood before the regional court in Wels. Even after her suicide, they were still deeply overshadowed by their mother.

Gabriela M. (56), who had claimed to be a mediator between heaven and earth with healing powers, was arrested in Zell am Moos in September. In addition to aggravated commercial fraud, which was charged by the WkSta, she was also accused of blackmail, embezzlement and deprivation of liberty.

The esotericist and her son (38) had actually already been charged in 2007 because they had sold healing stones and "soul pictures" in their store in Attnang-Puchheim at the time. But nothing happened for many years.

Siblings very silent
On Wednesday, the esoteric woman's children had to answer to the lay judges at Wels Regional Court: siblings Stefan (38) and Corinna M. (31). Stefan M. is alleged to have played a key role in serious commercial donation fraud and deprivation of liberty. His sister, Corinna M., on the other hand, is said to have only helped collect donations.

The two were silent, did not speak except when they confessed and looked silently into the room. It was almost as if the mother's presence still hovered menacingly over them. Only Corinna M. finally said in a low voice: "It feels as if we've never had a life before. Only when this curse was broken from the outside did we start to live."

"Highly manipulative woman"
Gabriela M. saw herself as a medium, first selling gemstones, pictures and then treatments that were supposed to heal her clients through the power of her celestial connection. According to the chief prosecutor of the WkSta, however, Gabriela M. was anything but an angel: "A severely manipulative woman with a massive narcissistic personality disorder. What is commonly called a psychopath", as the lawyer put it.

Six-figure debt
By chance, this woman met her exact counterpart on a fateful day: Ms. M., at the time a young woman, fresh out of medical school, with not only a penchant for esotericism, but also with strongly pronounced masochistic traits and a penchant for self-deprecation. Within a very short time, she had become completely dependent on her dominant mother, had spent huge sums of money on her "services" and had run up six-figure debts.

Eventually, she even moved into the family home. However, she was only allowed to stay on the ground floor, the upper floors were reserved for the "higher souls", the mother and her two children. After the victim had a child with Stefan M., all her money was used up and she was worthless to the family.

Victim manipulated
A plan was therefore devised: The victim had been manipulated to such an extent that she appeared suicidal to the doctors treating her. But that was not all: Gabriela M., who controlled everything, had ordered the young woman to make threats against the family and her own child. In the end, she was even supposed to attack the staff of the psychiatric facility, which led to her being committed to an institution for mentally abnormal criminals, now a forensic therapeutic center, after a trial.

Six million euros scammed
The esoteric woman finally knew how to turn these "threats" against herself and her family into urgently needed money: First, she set up a donation account for the "endangered" family with the help of a victim protection organization, then faked further appeals for donations. She used these to raise a dizzying amount of money: six million euros were collected from one industrialist heiress alone, whom she had been "treating" for some time.

Imprisoned for four and a half years
The chief public prosecutor emphasized in particular: "Abusing the judiciary, police officers, judges and public prosecutors as a weapon is catastrophic and must be punished accordingly!" The victim (40) had been locked up for four and a half years, chained to her bed by her limbs and stomach. The woman was also treated with strong psychotropic drugs, the side effects and damage of which she suffers greatly today.

She was allowed to see her child for the first time in 2024, when he was already eleven years old. Mother and son now meet up every week. However, normality will probably not return to her life for a long time yet, if ever.

The sentence was rather light
The pleas for lenient sentences from lawyers Michael Lanzinger for the first defendant and Andreas Meissner for the second defendant were granted: 24 months for the first defendant Stefan M., four of which were unconditional. His sister received 14 months, which were suspended in full. With a possible sentence range of one to ten years, the verdicts were rather lenient and legally binding.