The Russian counterfeit money fraudster who slept with a wild cat in a Vienna hotel got off with a suspended sentence. Immediately after the trial, the 34-year-old was taken into custody pending deportation. If the man is deported to Russia, he wants to arrange transportation for his predator immediately.
“I came here with the cat, very normally. She lived with me in the hotel room for ten months. “I didn’t know it wasn’t allowed here,” says the 34-year-old Russian-Ukrainian citizen who was caught with counterfeit money in a four-star hotel in Vienna-Favoriten in May after spending dozens of fake 50-euro notes in nearby supermarkets.
“They bought a lot of beef and minced meat with that. Was that for the cat?”, judge Andreas Böhm wants to know. “Yes,” answers the defendant, who says that he is a lawyer and runs a law firm in Moscow.
Considered a status symbol in Russia
But his pet, which slept in his bed, is not a cuddly velvet paw. “Archibald” is a big cat, more precisely a caracat, which we are not allowed to keep. In Russia, animals are expensive status symbols.
When the federal police seized it, the lynx-like big cat was extremely heavy and so aggressive that zoo experts had to sedate him with a dose of cheetahs. After two months of dieting in Vienna’s Animal Quarter, the six-year-old ‘Archibald’ is slim again. With the support of his lawyers, the defendant arranged for a suitable facility from his custody – “Archibald” is currently waiting in the Czech Republic to be returned to his owner.
Conditional sentence, but immediate detention
And that could be soon. The man is being released with a lenient five-month sentence for the charge of counterfeiting money: “I sold my watch privately in Israel and did not realize that I was getting counterfeit money for it,” he claims in the trial. “It was in good faith,” said his lawyer Bettina Caspar-Bures.
However, her client was not released after the verdict was announced, but was instead held pending deportation. If he is deported to Russia, he wants to immediately arrange transportation for “Archibald.”
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
