Remorse in court

Commerzialbank: “I have ruined livelihoods”

Franziska Klikovits was the last to make her way into the courtroom to take her place on the far left of the dock.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Harald Schume)

For 33 years, a Commerzialbank board member covered up and supported the criminal activities of Martin Pucher. At the trial in Eisenstadt, the 59-year-old apologized to the victims: "I am sorry from the bottom of my heart!"

Franziska Klikovits will probably still be annoyed to this day that this damned adverb "probably" happened to her in front of the grand jury at the Eisenstadt Regional Court: "I will probably never be able to forgive myself for my behavior," said the 59-year-old, who used the first few minutes of her testimony to apologize. "There are no words for what I did. I know many of the victims - I robbed them of their money, ruined people and livelihoods." She should have pulled the ripcord many years ago. But she lacked the courage. "I can understand if people don't want to accept my apology. In any case, I am sorry from the bottom of my heart."

Klikovits pleaded guilty in full to all charges - embezzlement of bank funds, breach of trust, fraudulent crida and money laundering.

Pucher not fit to stand trial according to psychiatrist
Her former boss, whom Klikovits always refers to in court as "Mr. Pucher" and who is undoubtedly the mastermind behind the 800 million bankruptcy of Commerzialbank Mattersburg, remains absent from the trial. The 68-year-old, who is said to have had two strokes at the age of 59, is not fit to stand trial. A psychiatrist prepared the relevant court report.

Until the bank closed in 2020, she had hoped "that Mr. Pucherdas would perform a miracle. He always promised me that he would. He wanted to raise the missing money by betting on sports and investing in promising projects". That's why she didn't blow the whistle on him. "If I hadn't covered it up, all the customers would have been damaged immediately. I certainly didn't want that."

No contradiction tolerated
She was only 19, a simple counter clerk, when Mr. Pucher first asked her to misrepresent an account statement. "I simply did what my supervisor at the time asked me to do." She was young and naive. "I admired Mr. Pucher. He was able to convince people. His word counted. I don't think many people disagreed with him, including myself."

In addition to Klikovits, the three retired entrepreneurs who allegedly caused a loss of 70 million euros were in the dock again yesterday. "Mr. Pucher's main concern was that the malversations of our bank would be exposed after their bankruptcy."

Give me the phone book! We need clients 
So they invented a game: Pucher gave them cash, which they used to pay their loan installments and sponsor SV Mattersburg. The three then searched for names and addresses in a phone book and issued invoices for jobs that had never existed. You have to earn something!

The oldies, seemingly impassive, have to hold out for a few more days of the trial. Will the sentence of 1 to 10 years let them sleep peacefully?