By Karin Hendrich
He was abused as a child in a Catholic home. Manne H. *(64) had hopes of compensation for decades. Which he could really use as an unemployed person.
However, overwhelmed with all the formalities, he asked his friend Siggi R. *(62), who was also unemployed, for help in December 2020. He immediately got down to business. Researched, read, phoned…
Manne: “He handed me a multi-page application form that I had to sign.” Siggi added the account details later – albeit his own, as the authorized representative.
Manne: “After that, the matter no longer interested me. I would never have believed that it would work.” At first, Manne did not find out that the application had been approved and that he had been awarded 35,000 euros. Until the relevant diocese of Regensburg informed him of the money transfer by letter.
So Siggi ended up in front of the district court for fraud. However, he denied the accusation. Sometimes he wants to have agreed a fifty-fifty split with Manne. He once claimed to have given him the money in cash…
What is certain is that Siggi had the total amount paid out in installments at his bank counter on the same day and the two days that followed.
The judge did not accept the alleged forwarding to Manne: “The way of taking off speaks against it. Why in cash?” The victim blindly signed the form. “Naive, full of trust. Didn’t follow up either.” So he only found out about the compensation payment by chance.
Her verdict for the hitherto unpunished Siggi: Six months imprisonment on probation. The 35,000 euros are subject to confiscation.
What’s it called? Money ruins friendship. In any case, both of them addressed each other as “Sie” during the trial.
*Names changed