Hildesheim, Germany - The head of a German armoured van company where executives were quietly helping themselves to the customers' cash was jailed Friday for 11 years. Karl-Heinz Weis, 60, was convicted of misappropriation and embezzlement in the northern city of Hildesheim. He had already been convicted in May 2007 of related offences including deliberately bankrupting his own company.
The Heros company delivered and picked up cash from shops and banks. So much cash was in storage that staff were able to help themselves, while the pool of cash remained sufficient to keep the right sums going out on the trucks.
In February 2006 police arrived at the Heros offices and discovered the executives had stolen 240 million euros. The 11-year term is a combined one that includes the 10-year sentence at the Weis trial last year.
The court said Friday it was unclear what the money was spent on or whether any was used to bribe people to shut their eyes to Weis' misdeeds or pay off blackmailers.
