Wheelchair my ass!

For social benefits: Fraudster (40) simulates paralysis

The 40-year-old sits in the dock on the second day of the trial without any symptoms.

(Bild: Sophie Pratschner, Krone KREATIV)

There is no trace of a wheelchair in the Vienna Regional Court. A Serbian woman at least told the health insurance company that she needed one to get through her daily life. In addition, she said that a half-sided paralysis and bouts of weakness made her unable to work. A witness confirmed in court: "She said she only needed the wheelchair for social security."

The 40-year-old enters the courtroom in Vienna's regional court, standing upright and walking quickly. There is no sign of balance problems or hemiplegia. And it was precisely this that made police officers suspicious in spring 2022 when they investigated the Serbian woman for social fraud. She had applied to the health insurance fund for a disability pension and care allowance.

No trace of the wheelchair during surveillance
She stated that she could almost only get around in a wheelchair and that a walker would suffice on good days. Her everyday life was characterized by bouts of weakness that would make the 40-year-old unable to work. But what the investigators photographed painted a completely different picture - how she lifts heavy things, hangs curtains in the kitchen or plays with her grandchildren in the garden.

And on the second day of the trial against the Serbian woman - which began in mid-July - a witness confirmed that although she had always told him "how badly she was doing", he had never seen anything of it. "My impression was that she was trying to arouse sympathy. In the end, I see it as a cold calculation," says the Viennese man, who claims that the 40-year-old and her co-defendant partner caused at least 80,000 euros worth of damage by botching the work.

I know the defendant a bit. I would have described her as hysterical and a whiner. She believes she is really ill.

Verteidigerin Astrid Wagner

Bild: Groh Klemens/Klemens Groh

But that is not the subject of the proceedings, the presiding judge reminded us. But the witness also knows about the pension fraud: "I was in her apartment once and I saw a wheelchair. I asked her what she needed it for and she said it was only for social security." This statement elicited a startled response from the defendant ...

Psychiatrist detects simulation
The psychiatric and neurological expert who had prepared an expert opinion for the health insurance company also had to take the witness stand. He was unable to confirm the theory put forward by defense lawyer Astrid Wagner that her client was suffering from hypochondria. For the expert witness, everything points to a simulation.

In the end, the panel of lay judges also believed this and sentenced the Serbian woman and her partner - he would have known about the serious fraud, but got off lightly with a 15-month conditional sentence. And the 40-year-old is also pleased with her sentence of 21 months in prison. This is because she had already served the three months that she would actually have to spend in prison while on remand. The public prosecutor also accepts the sentences.