Head still on the run

1.8 million euros taken in bank burglaries

The three defendants - one Austrian and two Israeli citizens - in court in Lower Austria.

(Bild: Bartel Gerhard/Gerhard Bartel, Krone KREATIV)

The break-ins were well thought out: a safe deposit box was rented. They were left alone in the vault, the lockers were broken into and emptied in the blind spot of the surveillance cameras. Three men are now sitting in court in Korneuburg for this - but they are only likely to have played minor roles.

A gang of safe deposit box burglars is said to have stolen a hefty sum of 1.8 million euros in just three attacks - at least that's what the public prosecutor's office is accusing them of.

Criminal mastermind still on the run
The picture that emerges after a short time at the Korneuburg Regional Court (Lower Austria) is quite different: the three men in the dock only played minor roles in the well-planned coups. "Our client only interpreted at the bank counter," says lawyer Philipp Wolm, who is defending the third defendant (46) together with Peter Philipp. Their colleagues Rudolf Mayer and Klaus Ainedter about their client (45): "He was just a lookout."

The prominent Viennese lawyers in the Korneuburg Regional Court (from left to right): Peter Philipp, Rudolf Mayer, Dominik Wild, Klaus Ainedter and Philipp Wolm

(Bild: Bartel Gerhard/Gerhard Bartel)

So who was the mastermind behind the sophisticated burglaries? A fugitive, untraceable for the Austrian justice system. He was the one who had recruited the three accused - with the promise of big money. However, he had ultimately broken into the lockers in the blind spot of the surveillance cameras on his own.

Acquittal and guilty verdict
And that is also the view of the jury. The 45-year-old received a merciful 30 months in prison for watching. "Our client's remorse was not expressed in words, but in deeds," Rudolf Mayer emphasized, pointing out that the second defendant had already paid back his share of the loot.

The 46-year-old was acquitted. "There was no proof that our client knew that he was going down there to break in," says lawyer Peter Philipp. The trial against the first defendant, defended by Dominik Wild, will continue on Monday. He is also alleged to have run a cannabis plantation.