Vienna court convicts three men over hundreds of stolen identities

Three men have been convicted over a fraud network that allegedly stole the identities of more than 200 people, ORF reported. The gang’s alleged leader was sentenced to three and a half years in prison by the Vienna Regional Court, although his conviction is not yet legally final.

The gang leader, who had been held in pretrial detention for 13 months, and his assistant were convicted of commercially aggravated fraud, forging specially protected documents and fraudulent misuse of data processing. The assistant received a two-year sentence, with eight months to be served in prison.

The third defendant operated a workshop for forging identity documents and also received a partly suspended prison sentence. The assistant and the third defendant were convicted with final effect and were able to leave prison after the hearing.

Network caused at least 750,000 euros in damage

The three men, aged 35, 36 and 44, allegedly used forged identity documents to open bank accounts and order expensive mobile phones, which they did not pay for before selling them on. Investigators currently estimate the total damage at about 750,000 euros, although the Vienna State Criminal Police Office believes it could be considerably higher. Investigators also suspect the involvement of other people behind the network.

The three main suspects are Austrian nationals with a Russian Chechen background. The alleged gang leader is said to have operated under the pseudonym Inko1 on the dark web, where he also sold forged identity documents.

The second defendant allegedly ran a forgery workshop on the balcony of his apartment in Floridsdorf, a district of Vienna. The third defendant is alleged to have assisted the other two by preparing and shipping the documents.

Thirty suspected offenders identified

Investigators identified 30 suspected offenders aged between 24 and 50. Some live in Vienna or the surrounding area. They include about three recruiters who enlisted runners and accompanied them to bank appointments and mobile phone collections.

The runners were mostly people with severe financial problems, including some from drug-use and homeless communities. The goods were delivered to unoccupied addresses or parcel shops without video surveillance. The group also made money by withdrawing funds from the newly opened accounts.

German tip led investigators to Inko1

The investigation began after banks filed a large number of reports in November 2024 about accounts opened with forged credit-card-sized identity documents. Investigators from the Vienna State Criminal Police Office were led to Inko1 by information from Germany.

During an operation targeting the dark web, investigators discovered that someone using the pseudonym was selling Austrian identity documents on a large scale. Inko1 eventually made a major mistake by opening a cryptocurrency account to store the proceeds. He used his real identity document to do so.

Police seized forged documents, cash, mobile phones, computers and a car from his apartment. Investigators then analysed the evidence to identify other offenders and suspects. Fifteen people, including Austrians, Serbs, Turks, Russians and Afghans, have so far been convicted. Three women were also among those accused.