Udo Proksch

Who was Udo Proksch?

Udo Proksch was an Austrian businessman and industrialist. In 1991, he was convicted of the murder of six people as part of a major insurance fraud. Proksch died in prison.

In 1977, the ship Lucona sank in the Indian Ocean, after an explosion, killing six people. Proksch, the owner of the cargo, also then owner of famous Viennese confectioners' Demel, claimed US$20 million from his insurance company, saying that the ship was carrying expensive uranium mining equipment. In 1990, Lucona was located by American shipwreck hunter David Mearns, revealing that the ship had been sunk by a time bomb. Fraud was suspected; but investigations were obstructed by powerful Austrian politicians, who were friends of Proksch.

Several ex-Ministers were eventually convicted over their involvement. The ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs was sentenced for forging documents authenticating the cargo. Two other Ministers were dismissed for obstructing the investigations. The Minister of Defense, a shareholder in the Proksch firm, had given permission to deliver explosives to sabotage the ship and committed suicide when that became clear.

In 1988, Proksch fled to the Philippines after Hans Pretterebner published a book about the scandal. Proksch stayed at the palace of his personal friend, the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.