Prosecutors await final report in Hipp extortion case

Investigators are nearing the end of their work on an alleged extortion attempt against German baby-food maker Hipp, ORF reported Monday. The Eisenstadt prosecutor’s office is waiting for the final report before deciding whether to bring charges.

The 39-year-old suspect remains in pre-trial detention. The former Hipp employee was arrested in Salzburg state on May 2. He is suspected of tampering with two Hipp jars in each of Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia using rat poison.

A second jar, reportedly sold at a Spar store in Eisenstadt, has not been found. The jar recovered in Burgenland contained 15 micrograms of rat poison. An expert report found that consuming the dose would not have been life-threatening but could have caused health effects.

Rat poison found at the suspect’s home was comparable in concentration and proportion to the substance in the recovered jar, according to the prosecutor’s office. However, that does not prove it was the same poison.

The suspect, who was born in Slovakia, denies involvement. He admits to forging documents, including payslips used to obtain a loan.