Austrian court convicts nine bank fraudsters

Honduras News.Net
Saturday 5th July, 2008

Nine people have been convicted of criminal charges in a major Austrian bank fraud case.

The case was linked to the 2005 collapse of New York-based commodities brokerage Refco Inc and BAWAG, Austria's No. 4 bank.

A Vienna Federal Court Judge found the defendants, including two former BAWAG executives, Helmut Elsner and Johann Zwettler, and US-based investment banker Wolfgang Floettl, responsible for US$1.9 billion in losses at BAWAG.

All nine defendants had proclaimed their innocence on charges of breach of trust, false accounting and fraud.

The judge denounced their innocence claims and said they were guilty of taking aggressive and recklessly risky actions with depositor’s assets.

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