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Austrian gets eight years in prison for defrauding 12,500 people
Jan 31, 2011, 12:55 GMT
Vienna - An Austrian investor was found guilty on Monday of defrauding 12,500 people and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
After initially pleading not guilty, Wolfgang Auer-Welsbach admitted Monday to creating damages worth 450 million euros (616 million dollars) by pocketing money from his own firm AvW as well as from people who bought its investment certificates.
'As the mastermind, I have to take responsibility,' Auer-Welsbach told the court in Klagenfurt, Austrian press agency APA reported.
The former manager also admitted that he deceived certificate holders about AvW's liquidity, and that he manipulated his firm's stock price.
AvW's system crashed in 2008 amid the financial crisis.
The firm's promises of annual returns of up to 18 per cent, capital protection and a buy-back guarantee turned out to be empty.
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