Austrian accountant jailed for embezzling human rights funds

Stolen money paid for breast augmentation and a nose job of accountant's 31-year-old mistress

Written by Penny Sukhraj

A court in Vienna has convicted an accountant who embezzled $1.8m from the international Helsinki Federation for Human Rights and used part of the money to pay for his mistress' breast augmentation.

The court heard details of how the organisation was eventually forced to close after the 43-year-old accountant channelled money unnoticed for six years into his bank account under the guise of financing human rights projects. He also made personal use of the organisation's ATM card.

His mistress also received large sums, and gambled about $7,355 a week at poker games. She also received an additional $44,118, which she told her accountant boyfriend, would be used to open a hair salon.

Instead the money paid for her breast augmentation and nose job, PR-inside.com reported.

In court the accountant said his mistress led him to believe that she would pay him back since she would be coming into a large inheritance.

He said he would not have agreed to financing the plastic surgery if he had known about them ahead of time.

The accountant has been sentenced to three years in jail, two of which were suspended, while his 31-year-old mistress- who was charged with concealment and receipt of stolen goods, was sentenced to two years and sixteen months, which she may serve on parole.

Further reading:

Accountant Sentenced for Fraud

Accountant Fraud Forces Out Rights Group

Enjoyed this article? Help spread the word:

Comments

Reader comments for this story

White papers

Related jobs

Spotlight

Find a place in the sun with YP

May issue of Young Professional features a guide to living...

James Thompson, Ecosecurities CFO

Profile: James Thompson, CFO of Ecosecurities

James Thomspon couldn't have started his job at a worse...

Practice careers guide: big versus small

Is big really best or would working for a medium...

Find your next job

Find your next job
Salary Checker

Search white papers

Search white papers

Have your say

Has the credit crunch made you fear for your job?
Yes, my company says jobs will go
Maybe, if things get worse, I could be hit
No, business is quite stable

Job of the week

More finance jobs...

Your next job