Commerzialbank trial

Commerzialbank: Six years in prison for former board member

Emergency exit, secured by an alarm: Franziska Klikovits .

(Bild: HS)

Commerzialbank trial in Eisenstadt: Former board member Franziska Klikovits has been jailed for 6 years and 4 months, while her former boss is allowed to sit at home blameless. 

Martin Pucher, undoubtedly the main culprit in the 800 million bankruptcy of Commerzialbank Mattersburg, the man who robbed thousands of depositors of their savings, has come clean - the 68-year-old does not have to answer for his actions in court. According to a psychiatrist's report, the man from Burgenland is not fit to stand trial after suffering two strokes. And probably never will be: He will one day, hopefully not for a long time, be laid to rest as a blameless person.

59-year-old pleads guilty
His former right-hand woman at Commerzialbank, Franziska Klikovits, has to fight the proxy war at the regional court. The 59-year-old has the guts to sit in the dock and plead guilty in full. To the crimes of embezzlement, breach of trust, fraudulent crida and money laundering. And she apologizes to the customers who have also lost millions of euros through her actions.

On the right, the entrepreneur who is found guilty.

(Bild: HS, Krone KREATIV)

The trial at the Eisenstadt Regional Court is about a comparatively paltry 70 million euros in damages. In addition to Pucher and Klikovits, three now retired entrepreneurs are also on trial. The illegal game worked like this: Pucher granted loans to these insolvent companies. They issued fictitious invoices.

Forged cheques and signatures
Pucher gave them cash. They used this to pay the installments - with money that never existed. Signatures on checks were forged. In return, the entrepreneurs sponsored the SV Mattersburg soccer club, of which Pucher was president. "I thought Pucher was sponsoring my business," says the first of the trio, who is serving a two-and-a-half-year unconditional prison sentence. The other men are still to be sentenced.

She earned very well, but didn't have time to spend her money. It's gone now anyway, because she also had the account at Commerzialbank.

Rechtsanwalt Johann Pauer vertritt Klikovits am Landesgericht

Klikovits didn't just watch her former boss go about his business. She also actively participated. For example, by bringing the cash to the entrepreneurs. Or approving the questionable loans. She was also responsible for ensuring that the balance sheets stood up to scrutiny.

Mitigating circumstances
With a sentencing range of up to 10 years imprisonment, the Burgenland woman received a crisp 6 years and 4 months. A mitigating factor is that she confessed from day one and contributed to clearing up the case, as the senior public prosecutor also noted: "In my career, I have rarely heard a more remorseful confession."

Lawyer Johann Pauer emphasizes that his client did not enrich herself. "She didn't gain anything from it, except that she had to clean up Martin Pucher's mess." The verdicts are not legally binding. And: the big Commerzialbank trial, in which we will be talking about 800 million euros, is still to come.