- Udo Proksch
Udo Proksch,
May 29 1934 (Rostock ,Germany ) –June 27 2001 (Graz ,Austria ) was anAustria n businessman and industrialist. In 1991, he was convicted of the murder of six people as part of a majorinsurance fraud . Proksch died in prison. [Club 45 in Vienna: https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/dspace/bitstream/1887/4551/12/04.pdf (Page 13)]In 1977 the ship "
Lucona " sank in thePacific Ocean (or Indian Ocean? (cf. German Wikipedia)), after an explosion, killing six people. Proksch, the owner of the cargo, also then owner of famous Viennese confectioners'Demel , claimed US$20 million from his insurance company, saying that the ship was carrying expensiveuranium mining equipment. "Lucona" was located by American shipwreck hunterDavid Mearns , revealing that the ship had been sunk by atime bomb . Fraud was suspected, but investigations were obstructed by powerful Austrian politicians, who were friends of Proksch.Several ex-ministers were eventually convicted over their involvement. The ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs was sentenced for forging documents authenticating the cargo. Two other ministers were dismissed for obstructing the investigations. The minister of Defense, shareholder in the Proksch firm, had given permission to deliver explosives to sabotage the ship and committed suicide when that became clear.
Proksch fled to the
Philippines in 1988 afterHans Pretterebner published a book about the scandal. Proksch stayed at the palace of his personal friend, the dictatorFerdinand Marcos .He returned to
Vienna in 1989 incognito but was recognized and arrested. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison onMarch 11 1991 . A year later the sentence was increased to a lifelong term in prison. He died onJune 27 2001 during heart surgery.Proksch was the first husband of the actress Daphne Wagner, daughter of
Siegfried Wagner and granddaughter of the composerRichard Wagner .Works about Proksch and the Lucona case
*1988: Hans Pretterebner published a book about the Lucona case, "Der Fall Lucona".
*1993: A film about the "Lucona" case (starringDavid Suchet ) is released.
*2004: The art groupmonochrom stages "Udo 77", a musical about the life of Udo Proksch.External links
* [http://www.netcyclo.com/places/polit/nations/austria/au-his16.htm Netcyclo: Austrian history 1983 onwards]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106854/ IMDb entry about 'Der Fall Lucona']
* [http://www.monochrom.at/udo77 Homepage of 'Udo 77'] (German language)Notes and references
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