Vienna, July 3, 2026
A Viennese lay judge panel sentenced the wife of a lawyer on Friday to two and a half years in prison because she, together with an unknown accomplice, had faked a break-in at her husband's law office and removed 75,000 euros from a safe.
Background: Allegation of Faked Break-In
The verdict came after a multi-day trial at the Vienna Regional Court. The lay judge panel considered it proven that the defendant had faked the break-in and taken the money from the safe at the law office. At the center was the question of whether her husband, a Viennese lawyer, was involved in the crime.
At the start of the trial in early May, the woman had initially admitted to having invented the break-in. During the course of the proceedings, however, she changed her version and claimed that two businessmen — clients of her husband — had broken into the office, threatened her with a knife and a pair of scissors, and taken the money. The court deemed this account not credible.