Bank robbery in Linz: Mastermind Abubakar D. sentenced to 10 years in prison!

Bank robbery in Linz: Mastermind Abubakar D. sentenced to 10 years in prison!

The Vienna Regional Court was very good last week: Abubakar D., who is considered the "mastermind" of a spectacular bank robbery in Linz, was sentenced to ten years in prison. The attack occurred on September 30, 2024, when two young men stormed the bank and asked loudly for cash. D. is said to have fled around 78,000 euros.

The legal disputes lasted several days and were under the watchful eye of the police and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. D., who had previous convictions for other crimes, pleaded not guilty and argued that he did not know what was in the bag that was given to him after the attack. Particularly spicy: He is also accused of money laundering because he is said to have used the loot to purchase, among other things, a Mercedes and a property in Hungary, as Puls24 reports.

Complex background

But the process of D. is more than just a simple bank robbery. The public prosecutor sees him a "pied piper" who draws young people into crime. The taking of evidence revealed its entanglements in a variety of criminal activities, which made the judgment and the associated explanations all the more explosive.

He has a striking history related to IS propaganda and an incident in which he shot a man with a gas gun. This information shows that D. is not only involved in local crimes, but also affects national security issues. According to reports, he is also said to have involved third parties in a dispute between Syrians and Chechens, which could result in further legal problems.

Focus on crime statistics

The case of Abubakar D. falls into a larger context related to the increased crime in Austria. Statistics show that around 528,000 crimes were reported in 2023 - the highest value since 2016. Over a third of these offenses were in Vienna, where the focus was particularly on drug crime and economic crimes. A significant part of the suspects are foreigners, which leads to concern among the population.

Vienna remains a hot pavement, especially for the police, which, according to a survey in spring 2024, will be familiar of 77 % of citizens. Nevertheless, many want to combat crime, especially Islamist terror, which illustrates the ambivalent feelings in public.

Abubakar D. has lost the process, but the judgment is not yet final. He announced that he wanted to file an appeal. In view of its inglorious entanglements and the current crime situation in Austria, it remains to be seen how this complex case will make further waves.