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07. 04. 09. - 13:00

Elsner offers to pay bail of �2mn

Jailed former BAWAG bank chief Helmut Elsner has offered to pay two million Euros bail in return for release from preventive detention.

Elsner and a number of co-defendants were convicted last year of having defrauded the bank, but their sentences have not yet become legally binding.

He is the only one of them in preventive detention, on the grounds that he might flee from justice if released. Elsner was extradited to Austria from France before his trial after he refused to return voluntarily.

Elsner, who has been held in custody since February 2007 and received a sentence of nine and half years, has unsuccessfully requested release from detention on 10 occasions. The latest request was made in March this year.

His attorney Wolfgang Schubert said today (Tues) Elsner was offering to pay half of his net worth of four million Euros in bail. Schubert contrasted Elsner�s case to that of banker Julius Meinl, who was released from detention last week on bail of one million Euros - one twentieth of his net worth of two billion Euros.

Schubert said: "I will ask the court again today to release Elsner on bail of two million Euros in light of this scandalously-unequal treatment."

The attorney added that he would lodge a number of complaints about Elsner�s treatment at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. The complaints, Schubert said, would include unequal treatment, the length of his client�s detention and denial of his right to a fair trial.

Austrian public prosecutors approved the release of Julius Meinl last week in return for surrender of his passport and record bail of 100 million Euros because of the risk he might go on the run.

Vienna public-prosecution office spokesman Gerhard Jarosch said: "Julius Meinl is a British citizen, and it was feared, on the basis of previous investigations and new evidence, that he might try to flee from justice."

The move followed Meinl�s detention last week after questioning by prosecutors investigating allegations of fraud at Meinl European Land (MEL), a quoted property group formerly managed by Meinl Bank, which is closely held by the Meinl family.

The arrest followed raids on Meinl's home and offices in February and came amid deepening anger among retail investors about the performance of investment funds associated with the millionaire banker.

Meinl was charged with breach of trust, the charging of excessive fees and fraud in relation to MEL.

Austrian Times

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