Dietmar Machold was sentenced today in Vienna to six years in
prison, reports ORF. The former
violin dealer, 63, was convicted of embezzlement and fraudulent
bankruptcy after a trial that began in September and reconvened
this past week. The sentence could still be appealed,
however.
Machold could have received a sentence of up to ten years, but
according to the ORF report, the judge took the dealer's
'comprehensive and penitent confession' into consideration, among
other factors.
The embezzlement conviction relates to rare violins that clients
had entrusted to Machold for sale, and which he then either used as
collateral for loans or sold and embezzled the proceeds.
A fraud charge regarding an incorrect valuation, based on which a
loan was taken, could not be pursued at the trial because a
co-defendant was too ill to give evidence.
Machold still faces civil insolvency claims for at least €80m from
an array of creditors, including some of Austria's biggest
banks.
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