320,000 euros received

Designer clothing paid for with corona funding

The coronavirus aid is said to have been spent in luxury stores.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

A Romanian family now standing trial in Vienna is said to have founded eleven non-profit associations during the pandemic and received a lot of coronavirus aid in return. A total of 320,000 euros were transferred from the state fund to private accounts. And then allegedly spent it again in luxury stores ...

The first defendant, the 56-year-old, sits in the dock in courtroom 22 in Vienna's Landl district for less than five minutes before Ms. Rat orders him out of the courtroom. He is constantly interrupting her, answering brusquely. Especially when asked where his co-defendant ex-wife was. Because she doesn't even show up for the subsidy fraud trial. 

Eleven bizarre associations founded
The ex-couple, their daughter and his husband are accused of founding eleven sports and cultural clubs - one name more absurd than the next. But they only existed on paper. During the coronavirus pandemic, they then applied for and received funding for 56 of them - a whopping 320,000 euros ended up unlawfully in private accounts between 2020 and 2022. 

"Purchases from expensive brand stores"
The four Romanians, who live in Vienna, also spent the money diligently: "According to criminal police evaluations, the account documents obtained from the recipient accounts do not show any payments relating to associations, but rather private payments for everyday life and purchases from various, sometimes expensive, brand-name stores," said the public prosecutor's office. 

Is a club not allowed to shop at Karl Lagerfeld? Do you have to go naked on the street if you work for associations?

56-jähriger Erstangeklagte bei der Polizei

In the preliminary proceedings, the 56-year-old and his ex-wife tried to explain the expenses. They claimed to have spent 300,000 euros on medals and trophies - which the prosecution deemed "implausible" in view of the raging pandemic and the associated lockdowns. And no proof of payment could be presented for "T-shirts and cups with logos" for horrendous sums "without reference to specific events". 

Freak-out in the dock
And when asked about purchases from designer brands, the first defendant told the police: "Is a club not allowed to shop at Karl Lagerfeld? Do you have to go naked on the street if you work for clubs?" He continued this line at the start of the trial. "We live in a free state! I'm allowed to speak!" he bleated at Ms. Rat, for example, when she asked him not to interrupt her. 

Lawyer Andreas Schweitzer represents the co-defendant son-in-law - who is quite inconspicuous during the first day of the trial.

(Bild: Markus Tschepp)

"Where is your ex-wife?" she wants to know from the unemployed man - "You'll have to ask her yourself." No sooner said than done. But neither a phone call to the judge nor the police, who are consequently sent to the 55-year-old's registered address, can persuade her to appear at the Vienna Provincial Court. So the case has to be adjourned indefinitely. 

The same applies to the two younger defendants, who are silently observing the events surrounding their father and father-in-law. They are also alleged to have held positions in the fake non-profit organizations, such as chairman, secretary or treasurer. It remains to be seen whether the 55-year-old will appear at the next trial ...