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Former Commerzialbank boss in court: justice for those injured!
Franziska Klikovits, former board member of Commerzialbank Mattersburg, begins imprisonment after being sentenced for breach of trust and embezzlement.
Former Commerzialbank boss in court: justice for those injured!
The turbulent history surrounding the Commercial Bank Mattersburg continues to escalate. Today, the former board member Franziska Klikovits is being brought back into focus as a witness in the trial against two entrepreneurs, a plumber and a painter, at the Eisenstadt regional court. These entrepreneurs were among the bank's largest borrowers and had received loans and cash transfers amounting to almost 70 million euros, although their solvency was highly doubtful. The trial, which is being reopened due to the “lapse of time,” once again brings to light the bank’s questionable financial practices.
Franziska Klikovits was legally sentenced in February 2025 to a prison sentence of six years and four months. Her offenses include infidelity, embezzlement and fraudulent Krida. How Vienna.at reports, she is now going to prison and wants the events surrounding the bank to be clarified. She has announced that she will help raise awareness and regret her behavior, as it has cost many people their livelihoods.
A shadow of the past
The financial scandal surrounding Commerzialbank also raises questions about the actual stability of the banking sector. In the reports of the ECB Risk factors were identified that were further exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic and geopolitical tensions. These developments show that banks, including Commerzialbank, are often not ideally prepared for uncertainties. Although banks are better capitalized today than during the financial crisis, challenges such as rising debt ratios in the private sector and uniquely high default probabilities must be taken seriously.
Günter Weißnar, managing director of Protecta, who joined the process as a private participant, is stunned by the situation. In his opinion, the bank was well positioned until its collapse in 2019; the probability of default at that time was only 0.03 percent. He is impressed by how things have turned around and now finds himself in a major financial mess with 1.4 million euros. “It is unbelievable that the bank was already bankrupt in 1999, while the banking supervisory authority found no problems in 2015. I am sticking with the process so that I can finally get justice like many others,” said Weißnar.
The process continues
The process will continue on Thursday and could reveal even more exciting findings. It is examined in detail who initiated the disputed loans and who actually benefited from the lavish cash flows.
Franziska Klikovits has shown remorse and wants her punishment to be seen as a sign of insight. At the same time, her lawyer is planning an appeal, but she rejects this. She wants to draw a line in the sand and thereby reveals the complexity of human decisions in such a critical situation. How will the story surrounding Commerzialbank continue? The next court hearing could reveal the answer to this.