Product Code Database
Udo Proksch (29 May 1934 – 27 June 2001) was an Austrian businessman and industrialist. In 1991, he was convicted of the murder of six people as part of a major insurance fraud. Proksch died in prison.
In 1988, Proksch fled to the Philippines after Hans Pretterebner published a book about the scandal.
In 1989, he returned to Vienna incognito, but was recognized and arrested. In 1990, Lucona was located by American shipwreck hunter David Mearns, who discovered that the ship had been sunk by a time bomb.
On 11 March 1991, Proksch was sentenced to 20 years in prison. A year later, the sentence was increased to a lifelong term in prison. Several ex-ministers were also 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 defence Karl Lütgendorf, a shareholder in the Proksch firm, had given permission to deliver explosives to sabotage the ship; he killed himself when his role in the case became clear.
Proksch died on 27 June 2001, during heart surgery in the prison hospital.
Proksch was the first husband of the actress Daphne Wagner, daughter of Wieland Wagner, great-granddaughter of the composer Richard Wagner and great-great-granddaughter of Franz Liszt.
|
|
