Industry News
A multi-year fraud was uncovered by the new CEO of the Lech-Zürs Ski Resort in Austria. An investigation revealed that a total of 12 employees colluded to embezzle roughly €370,000 or $403,000 over the course of several years from the lift operations company Bergbahnen Lech-Oberlech GmbH & Co KG (which is a type of limited liability company under Austrian law).
Necip Lucian, who was appointed CEO of Bergbahnen Lech-Oberlech in December 2022, noticed that the booked proceeds from the mini-sled rental seemed very low, prompting him to launch an internal investigation. It turned out that the twelve affected employees had not properly booked the proceeds into the cash register and accounting. Instead, the employees in question would pocket the funds and would later divide the money among each other.
The fraud went on for at least 10 years and involved current and past employees of the Bergbahnen Lech-Oberlech. The fraud did not only affect the company but also tax authorities as the undeclared revenue also resulted in unpaid VAT and income tax for the local and federal government. The matter has been handed over to both the tax office and the public prosecutor’s office. The matter was revealed at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday, May 14.
