"Chaotic conditions"

Millions of euros cheated past the tax authorities

The trial was adjourned.

(Bild: Dorn Chantall/Krone KREATIV)

Two suspected members of a gang of crooks have been on trial at the regional court in Feldkirch since Tuesday for tax evasion in betting shops. They are alleged to have cheated on their tax returns. The defendants have so far pleaded not guilty.

The charges brought by the Feldkirch public prosecutor's office were directed at an Austrian resident in Switzerland, a Croatian woman and two Romanians. However, only the 49-year-old Austrian and his 42-year-old ex-wife from Croatia appeared at the trial.

Operation of three betting shops
According to the public prosecutor, the first defendant had operated three betting shops in Lustenau, Dornbirn and Hohenems and appointed his wife as managing director. It is alleged that the tax declarations were cheated.

Both defendants have so far pleaded not guilty. The defense lawyer for the first defendant, Clemens Achhammer, said that his client had founded a company in May 2014. However, he had given up his position as managing director in December 2014. "In the accused period from March 2016 to May 2018, my client had nothing to do with the company or the gambling."

"Only helped out occasionally"
At the time, the defendant only visited his wife, who worked in the betting shops. The first defendant did not want to answer the judge's questions. The second defendant, however, denied that she had ever worked as a manager in one of the betting shops. She was only an employee. "I looked after things, made orders and duty rosters or stood in for someone from time to time."

In her interrogation, she talks about the chaotic conditions in the betting shops and how everyone took their own wages from the cash register. Some workers had also reached into the till and gambled the money away. The 42-year-old heavily incriminated the first defendant. He had had dealings with dubious people. The trial is continued.