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Friday, February 5, 2016

Monika Rathgeber

Do you remember her ?
She is the lady who was in charge of the administration  of Tax moneys, paid by the Citizens of the Province of Salzburg.
She "invested" large funds in very risky derivatives and other high risk ventures. She made some money for the Province in the beginning, then she started to lose, which forced her, or so she thought, to gamble some more and in larger amounts. She then forged documents, channeled funds intended for the building of apartments and used them to gamble some more, all in the hope of making up the losses incurred previously.
Finally she lost, so it was reported, in excess of 500 million Euros.
All this happened in 2012. She stood accused of Grand Larceny, Forgery and who knows what else.
The trial started and ended yesterday.
Monika Rathgeber made a full confession and received a rather light sentence: 
Four years, but only one unconditional. 
The judge also mentioned that she would be an ideal candidate for a leg shakle.
This apparent light sentence was imposed because Monika did not commit her crime for her own enrichment. She did it, so she said, for the people of the Province of Salzburg.
So, she poorly invested and lost between 350 and 500 million Euros (depending on which paper you read), forged signatures on documents, misdirected funds, so she could gamble some more and she may not serve one day in Jail.
Actually this corresponds closely with my philosophy about "who should be in Jail".
I think that only violent offenders should serve jail sentences. 
Jails are over crowded with inmates whom society needs not fear.
Non-violent offenders should therefore be sentenced to leg shakles, monetary fines, and/or social services. And yet, I consider Ms Rathgeber's punishment a bit on the light side.




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