Gambling addict defrauded the bank of 130,000 Euro

In Austria a man defrauded three banks by more than 130.000 Euro, to use the money for his gambling addiction. Now the 42-year old was convicted by the regional court of Salzburg- because of serious commercial fraud and falsification of documents. In this article, we will explain, whether the drug addicted fraudster has to go to prison and how the banks could catch the criminal.

All three banks did not make it especially difficult for the gambling addicted man from Austrian Salzburg. Altogether they paid the 42-year old 130,000 Euro without justification. The money is now gone. And the accused now receives the judgement: 18 months partial probation.

Wage slip, personal data - all falsified

The man from the Salzburg district of Tenenngau became creative, to be able to get a loan from the bank. He did not only falsify pay slips, but he also approached with alias personal details and gave the personal details of relatives to apply for credit cards. The accused described to the presiding judge that he could not service the granted loans since summer 2019. The accused had used the loans which were attained through fraud to pay his debts to private creditors. It partly had to do with “dubious people”, who he had met in casinos.

In a further case, the accused had tried to apply for a loan of 50,000 Euro from another bank. Here, however they noticed the fraud and the bank employees reported the man. The defence of the accused, Lawyer Franz Essl, insisted in court, that his client was ”extremely addicted“ and he had not made himself “personally rich”. To substantiate his statement, he produced expert reports, which certified that the accused certainly suffered from pathological gambling behaviour. Now the accused has already been gamble free for a year, since he has accepted to undergo therapy and it is successful. That went down well with the presiding judge Madeleine Vilsecker.

One million Euro debts just through gambling addiction?

Judgement: 18 Months partial probation

A few days ago the man stood in the court in Salzburg and was judged to 18 months partial probation for his fraudulent acts. He should serve at least four months of them. For the rest of the time he should be in probation. The presiding judge showed understanding for the accused in her judgement and remarked positively that the accused had shown remorse and had already paid part of his debts. For this reason, an electronic foot shackle was possible for the obligatory four month imprisonment, so that the man can stay on house arrest.

Conclusion

A 42-year old male from Tennengau became a criminal to be able to finance his gambling addiction. In all during his several years of gambling the debts surmounted to the sum of one million Euro. In this case it seems that the bank made it easy for the gambling addicted man, as it was only after several cases that the bank employee checked the personal details of the man exactly. Till then there had already been three accused cases with damages amounting to 130,000 Euro. The man was then condemned to a partial probation of 18 months. Probably the sentence is so light, because the man showed himself to be insightful and has already paid some of his debts. One can only hope, that now he has managed to overcome his gambling addiction permanently so that he is not in danger of committing another crime.

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