Tiled stove was leaking

Fire victim charged with fraud after fire

The 68-year-old will be tried at the St. Pölten regional court.

(Bild: P. Huber)

Trial at St. Pölten regional court: Man (68) allegedly deceived insurance company after fire in house. Now he has to answer for attempted fraud. The trial was postponed. 

In October 2021, a fire destroyed parts of his home. A leaking tiled stove was allegedly responsible for the fire. More than 20 men were deployed to extinguish the fire in the district of St. Pölten. The restoration work cost around 200,000 euros. Money that the 68-year-old first had to borrow.

I ran out onto the street naked during the fire and was completely overwhelmed. The neighbors then alerted the fire department.

Angeklagter am Landesgericht St. Pölten

During the investigation into the cause of the fire, it emerged that the minimum distance between the bed and the stove had not been observed. Reason enough for the insurance company not to pay for the damage caused.

Defendant pleads not guilty
What's more, the 68-year-old is said to have tried to disprove the allegation by making false statements about the furniture arrangement (greater distance from the fireplace) in order to collect the insurance sum. The man now had to stand trial for attempted insurance fraud. And pleaded not guilty. The summoning of further witnesses was adjourned.