Austria's former Olympics chief jailed for embezzlement
A Vienna court on Tuesday sentenced the former head of the Austrian Olympic Committee, Heinz Jungwirth, to five years in jail without probation for embezzlement.
- Agence France-Presse
- Updated: July 31, 2012 07:21 PM IST
A Vienna court on Tuesday sentenced the former head of the Austrian Olympic Committee, Heinz Jungwirth, to five years in jail without probation for embezzlement.
Some 3.3 million euros ($4.0 million) went missing from the AOC coffers, and "when you look at Dr Jungwirth's lifestyle, you can imagine where this sum wound up," Judge Georg Olschak said in reading the verdict.
Court papers noted that Jungwirth owned a stable with 10 horses and paid for expensive coaches for his son.
The AOC, which was a civil plaintiff in the trial, is to recover 1.5 million euros it spent on the case.
Jungwirth said he needed time to decide whether to appeal.
His former deputy, Manuela Kovarik, was meanwhile acquitted.
On several occasions, hundreds of thousands of euros of AOC funds made their way into Jungwirth's private bank accounts, or paid for private purchases, an expert testified at the trial.
Jungwirth has maintained however that the transfers were agreed with Olympic committee management and were financial bonuses for his work.
Named AOC secretary general in 1982, he remained in the post for 26 years until he stepped down in February 2009 following initial allegations of financial irregularities.
He was charged in August 2009 for questionable use of Olympic committee funds.