Thievish postal clerk convicted

A former post office deputy manager has been found guilty of stealing cash from hundreds of letters for a number of years.

The 45-year-old woman received a suspended 15-month prison sentence in a court in Leoben, Styria, yesterday (Thurs). She denied financial difficulties but spoke of a “personal crisis” when asked to comment on her wrongdoings which caused 18,000 Euros in damages. The sentence has not yet become legally effective.

Similar felonies were also exposed and punished elsewhere in the country in past months. A 44-year-old former Fohnsdorf post office employee admitted to stealing shipments containing valuables for a many years last February. Investigations into the case are ongoing, Styrian police explained.

A 50-year-old man was sentenced to eight months in jail for nicking cash over a period of 20 years. He was suspended when his actions were discovered and found guilty by a court in Klagenfurt, Carinthia, in December 2010. The defendant claimed he did not take more than 1,000 Euros. However, prosecutors proved that he pilfered over 100,000 Euros out of letters and parcels.