Wels: Trial Against Broker and Straw Woman for Serious Fraud

A trial began on Thursday in Wels against a 54-year-old broker who allegedly swindled an heir community during a property sale with the help of a supposed straw woman. The co-defendant, a 56-year-old woman, allegedly acquired the property for about 300,000 euros below market value, and better offers were reportedly concealed from the sellers. The duo is facing charges of serious fraud. They have not confessed.

Sold Around 300,000 Euros Below Value

Starting in 2015, the heirs initially wanted to sell the property located in the city themselves, but a year later, they handed it over to the broker. According to the prosecutor, the second defendant, who has a close relationship with the 54-year-old's family, allegedly founded a company specifically for this purpose and submitted an offer as its managing director. The offer was 935,000 euros, even though the property was valued at 1.2 to 1.3 million euros according to market value.

Inferior Fake Offers Presented

Better offers were simply concealed from the sellers, according to the prosecutor's accusation. Instead, inferior fake offers from the defendants' circle were presented to them, leading to the sale to the second defendant in 2017.

Broker's Side Sees No Guilt

The broker's defense attorney, on the other hand, sees no "cover-up" as alleged by the prosecutor. There was no higher written offer "in existence," and the achieved purchase price was not significantly too low. The broker initially found no suitable buyer, and the available offers were only for the purchase of one of the two plots, he stated in court. However, there were apparently simultaneous offers for partial plots. In total, this would have resulted in a purchase price of well over a million euros. The defendant emphasized that the heir community only wanted one buyer.

Retirement Provision for Straw Woman

The father of the broker, with whom the alleged straw woman had been employed for years, informed her in 2017 about the property for sale as a possible retirement provision and offered financial support. For tax reasons, she said she founded a GmbH before making the "investment." Her personal limit was one million euros.

After the defendant's interrogations, a former prospective buyer took the witness stand. He had been looking for a property for company expansion and had come across the object of the heir community on an online sales platform. A meeting took place where the woman explained to him that the heir community was divided and split into two factions. She, as one of the heirs, wanted to handle the sale just like the broker.

Another Prospective Buyer Was "Very Surprised"

The witness spoke of "complicated" negotiations. Originally, he wanted to buy the entire area for 1.2 million, but he did not make a written offer. Instead, in March 2016, he submitted an offer of 789,000 euros for the "right half" of the property. After months, he heard from the heiress that the offer was too low. He recalled being "very surprised" by all of this. "Many things in the case surprise me," the judge also remarked.

It was only with an anonymous report in 2023 that "lengthy investigations" into the property sale were initiated. The trial will continue on December 4th.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.