Udo Proksch (29 May 1934 in

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, ...

, Germany – 27 June 2001 in

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popu ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

) was an Austrian businessman and industrialist. In 1991, he was convicted of the murder of six people as part of a major

insurance fraud Insurance fraud is any act committed to defraud an insurance process. It occurs when a claimant attempts to obtain some benefit or advantage they are not entitled to, or when an insurer knowingly denies some benefit that is due. According to th ...

. Proksch died in prison.

''Lucona'' sinking

In 1977, the ship ''

Lucona ''Lucona'' was a ship sunk in the Indian Ocean on 23 January 1977 by a bomb planted by Austrian businessman Udo Proksch, as part of an insurance fraud. Proksch, the owner of the cargo, also then-owner of famous Viennese confectioners Demel, claime ...

'' 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 Demel (colloquially ''der Demel'') is a famous pastry shop and chocolaterie established in 1786 in Vienna, Austria. The company bears the title of a Purveyor to the Imperial and Royal Court (''k.u.k. Hofzuckerbäcker'') up to today. Locatio ...

, claimed

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

20 million from his insurance company, saying that the ship was carrying expensive

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weakly ...

mining equipment. Fraud was suspected; but investigations were obstructed by powerful Austrian politicians who were friends of Proksch. In 1988, Proksch fled to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

after

Hans Pretterebner Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi ...

published a book about the scandal. In 1989, he returned to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, incognito, but was recognized and arrested. In 1990, ''Lucona'' was located by American shipwreck hunter

David Mearns David Louis Mearns, OAM, M.Sc. (born 10 August 1958), is an American-born United Kingdom based marine scientist and oceanographer, who specializes in deep water search and recovery operations, and the discovery of the location of historic shipwr ...

, who discovered that the ship had been sunk by a

time bomb A time bomb (or a timebomb, time-bomb) is a bomb whose detonation is triggered by a timer. The use (or attempted use) of time bombs has been for various purposes including insurance fraud, terrorism, assassination, sabotage and warfare. They a ...

. On March 11, 1991, Proksch was sentenced to 20 years in prison. A year later, the sentence was increased to a lifelong term in prison. Several ex-Ministers were also 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

Karl Lütgendorf Karl Ferdinand Lütgendorf, born Karl Ferdinand Freiherr von Lütgendorf (15 October 1914 – 9 October 1981) was an Austrian soldier and politician who served as the Defense Minister of Austria from 1971 to 1977. He died in 1981, in an apparent s ...

, a shareholder in the Proksch firm, had given permission to deliver explosives to sabotage the ship and committed suicide when that became clear. Proksch died on 27 June 2001, during heart surgery. Grab von Udo Proksch

Proksch was the first husband of the actress Daphne Wagner, daughter of

Wieland Wagner Wieland Wagner (5 January 1917 – 17 October 1966) was a German opera director, grandson of Richard Wagner. As co-director of the Bayreuth Festival when it re-opened after World War II, he was noted for innovative new stagings of the operas, depa ...

, great-granddaughter of the composer

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

and great-great-granddaughter of

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

Works about Proksch and the ''Lucona'' case

*1988: Hans Pretterebner publishes a book about the ''Lucona'' case, ''Der Fall Lucona''. *1993: ', a film about the ''Lucona'' case (starring

David Suchet Sir David Courtney Suchet''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' ( ; born 2 May 1946) is an English actor known for his work on British stage and television. He portrayed Edward Teller in the television serial ''Oppenh ...

). *2004: The art group

monochrom Monochrom (stylised as monochrom) is an international art-technology-philosophy group, publishing house and film production company. It was founded in 1993, and defines itself as "an unpeculiar mixture of proto-aesthetic fringe work, pop att ...

stages ''Udo 77'', a musical about the life of Udo Proksch. *2010: A documentary about Proksch, entitled '' Udo Proksch: Out of Control'' and directed by

Robert Dornhelm Robert Dornhelm (born 17 December 1947 in Temesvár, Romania) is an Austrian film and television director. Biography Dornhelm is of Jewish descent. He has worked on numerous television programmes and has also released such movies as ''Echo P ...

is released.

Notes and references

External links

Netcyclo: Austrian history 1983 onwards

IMDb entry about 'Der Fall Lucona'

Homepage of 'Udo 77'
(German language) {{DEFAULTSORT:Proksch, Udo 1934 births 2001 deaths Wagner family Austrian mass murderers Austrian people who died in prison custody Austrian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Bombers (people) Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Austria Prisoners who died in Austrian detention Austrian people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by Austria Austrian people of German descent People from Rostock

''Lucona'' sinking

Works about Proksch and the ''Lucona'' case

See also

Notes and references

External links