Customers ripped off
Key mafia boss (28) on trial in Vienna
Fraud involving emergency locksmith services is unfortunately widespread in Austria. A suspected mastermind is now in the dock at the Vienna Regional Court. The 28-year-old German was the managing director of a bogus company that not only ripped off customers, but also caused considerable damage to property during "repairs".
It's late in the evening and suddenly the toilet starts to flush incessantly or on Sunday the front door slams shut behind you and the key is still in the front room - it is precisely such emergencies that a 28-year-old and his gang of fake tradesmen are said to have mercilessly exploited for their scams.
Amateurs sent as emergency service
Desperate customers came across the supposed all-rounder emergency service in a Google search, and a short time later someone was standing on their doorstep. "In reality, they were people who couldn't do it at all," explains the public prosecutor at the Vienna Regional Court. "They worked without consideration to rip off the customers."
"Get as much out of it as possible"
The amateurs broke more than they fixed. For example, doors were milled open where it was not necessary. In some cases, things were repaired that weren't even broken. And the tradesmen charged huge sums for this. "According to the motto: 'Knock out as much as possible'." Over 300,000 euros of damage is said to have been caused as a result.
And at the head of this bogus company, LL Hausmeister GmbH, the now accused 28-year-old is said to have been the managing director. He provided tools and cars, recruited tradesmen and coordinated them. Another focus of the German: Google advertising. He invested up to 40,000 euros in advertisements. "You can imagine the amount of money that flowed," the prosecutor notes.
The accused was merely a puppet
However, the 28-year-old is by no means the big bad boss, his defense lawyer Sascha Flatz is convinced: "He was used as a front man. The people behind it are in Morocco and so on - not in Europe." His client would have had debts "to an Arab clan" and he would have had to work them off. The young German thus pleads guilty to having carried out the fraud on instructions.
The summoning of numerous witnesses is postponed.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
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