A bizarre twist in the trial

Kidnapping of well-known real estate agent planned

The accused is brought out of prison. He is currently serving a prison sentence.

(Bild: Sophie Pratschner, Krone KREATIV)

A cinematic indictment in Vienna Regional Court: In order to extort millions from the managing director of a well-known real estate agency, a 44-year-old lawyer allegedly planned to kidnap him twice. And the two also have a fiery past ...

"You are about to hear an extraordinary story, which fortunately was not realized," the public prosecutor at the Vienna Regional Court prepares the jurors. And she's right, because the trial in courtroom 401 probably has all the explosive components: wild kidnapping plans, millions, weapons and the construction site of a well-known person.

Petrol spilled in real estate office
In the dock sits a law graduate, elegantly dressed, with a thick folder in front of him - he is presented in handcuffs. Because he is not a blank slate. Last year, he was sentenced twice by the Wiener Neustadt regional court. He threatened his ex-wife and then tried to frame her for stealing a car. However, his first previous conviction is the most relevant for the trial: in 2022, he marched into a well-known real estate office in Vienna, doused the floor and furnishings with petrol and threatened to set everything on fire with a lighter.

He had the idea of kidnapping the victim in order to get money.

Staatsanwältin im Wiener Landl

The managing director of the estate agency is also a victim in the current trial. The 44-year-old is said to have planned to kidnap the wealthy man and extort 1.5 million euros from him at gunpoint. He had commissioned two cousins to do this, to whom he owed 20,000 euros. "He had the idea of kidnapping the victim in order to get the money," explained the public prosecutor. The cousins had played along for a short time, the crime plan was already complete. However, they reported the lawyer before the plan was implemented.

Second kidnapping planned
"A short time later, another complaint was made," the prosecutor continues. Two months later, the Viennese is said to have recruited another acquaintance - the 44-year-old also owed him money - to kidnap the managing director. This time it would have been for half a million. But it did not stop with the well-known real estate agent: the accused also instructed his acquaintance to kidnap his ex-wife and his six-year-old son ...

Lawyer Mirsad Musliu represents the managing director of the real estate agency as the victim in court.

(Bild: Sophie Pratschner)

And now to the defendant's version, which is no less cinematic: he worked with both the two cousins and the third man on a construction site - the lawyer is the managing director of a construction company. They were employed by the father of a famous Austrian footballer. But things did not go according to plan, the money ran out - the alleged hired kidnappers would now owe the accused thousands of euros.

"These people are both fraudsters," the 44-year-old almost laments. The accusations are a conspiracy against him. The planned kidnappings are fictitious. "I have a family, why should I take the risk of ruining my life?" - "Well, they have done that in the past," Mr. Rat points out to him that he is in prison for slandering his ex-wife and has only been allowed to see his son under supervision for some time.

No kidnapping plans
This time, however, his version of a plot against him really seems to be true - at least that's the verdict of the jury. They acquitted the lawyer of the kidnapping allegations. The witnesses were "not wildly credible".