Former FPÖ member of the National Council, Thomas Schellenbacher, was sentenced to two years and nine months of unconditional imprisonment at the Vienna Regional Court on Wednesday for serious fraud and fraudulent crime. A senate of lay judges (chairman: Thomas Spreitzer) considered it to be proven that the ex-politician, as managing director of a company specializing in environmental and traffic engineering, had caused millions in damage with fraudulent schemes.
SN / APA / HANS PUNZ
Several years of unconditional imprisonment for ex-FPÖ MP Schellenbacher
According to the – not final – judgment, Schellenbacher caused actual damage of five million euros. With regard to a further four million, the attempt remained – amounts asserted with intentional intent to deceive were ultimately not paid out. Schellenbacher accepted the verdict after consulting with defense attorney Farid Rifaat, while chief public prosecutor Marcus Schmitt initially made no statement.