Fraud process: Ex-oenb employee admits participation in the banking scandal!

Fraud process: Ex-oenb employee admits participation in the banking scandal!

In the scandal around Commerzialbank Mattersburg, a former employee of the Austrian National Bank (OENB) is held responsible for serious fraud. The 58-year-old admitted to the Korneuburg Regional Court that he had repeatedly revealed the OENB examination dates to the former bank boss Martin Pucher. This happened in 2015, 2017 and 2020, and gave the bank boss enough time to cover up manipulations on the books and fake loans. According to the economic and corruption prosecutor, his actions were classified as a "almost systematic approach", which had serious consequences for the entire bank, which is now faced with a total damage of at least 600 million euros, as krone.at

confession and mild judgment

During the negotiation, the accused admitted that he was influenced by his friendship with Pucher and that the information not only passed it out once, but at every exam. Despite the gifted smaller donations such as cheese bells and tea sets that Pucher had given away to him, this did not justify violating official secrets. Judge Manfred Hohenecker described his decision to confess as "to count", but admitted that the repeated misconduct excluded a diversion. The 58-year-old was finally sentenced to eight months of conditional imprisonment, which made the punishment milder than originally thought. Hohenecker made it clear that the confession was crucial for the short-term process course, as from noen.at .

Despite the relatively mild punishment, it remains open to what extent his behavior has contributed to the fact that the financial mismanagement of the Commerzialbank remained undetected for so long. The judge also warned that it would be better not to know the exact amount of damage for which the accused is responsible. While the main hearing continues in Eisenstadt, the future remains uncertain for the ex-oenb employee, since he has shaken a significant part of trust in the banking system through his actions.