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Deep fall: The former internet millionaire
Alexander Falk
Photo: Arne Dedert/dpa
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) on Wednesday rejected the appeal of the 53-year-old against his conviction to four and a half years in prison.
This means that a judgment by the Frankfurt Regional Court from July 2020 is final, according to which Falk had commissioned criminals to shoot a business lawyer.
Falk had been in custody for 22 months before the Frankfurt verdict.
This time will be counted towards the prison sentence imposed.
Suspension of the remainder of the sentence is normally only possible after two-thirds of the sentence has been served.
As a successful Internet entrepreneur, Falk was once one of the richest Germans.
In 2008, he was sentenced to four years in prison for attempted fraud because he had embellished the value of his company and sold it at an inflated price.
The lawyer who was shot then prepared a multimillion-dollar lawsuit for damages from the other side.
Falk is said to have ordered the attack on him out of anger, revenge and offended honor.
He was convicted of incitement to grievous bodily harm.
Deep fall of the new economy star
As a young man, Falk very successfully invested the money from the sale of his father's well-known city map publishing company in Internet companies.
In the meantime he was one of the 100 richest Germans.
Then the deep fall: In 2008, Falk was sentenced to four years in prison for attempted fraud because he had embellished the value of his company through bogus transactions and sold it at an inflated price.
As a result, he faced claims for damages in the millions.
The attacked lawyer had worked for the other side.
When he was about to get into his car in front of his house in Frankfurt in February 2010, an unknown gunman shot him in the thigh at close range.
There had been anonymous calls before, once the front door had been smashed in with a hammer.
The investigators groped in the dark for years – until 2017, a key witness appeared who accused Falk.
The man known to the police benefited from his statement, because the attack victim's former law firm had offered a reward of 100,000 euros.
Tape recording manipulated
Falk's wife had testified in the Frankfurt trial that the family had been blackmailed by the man.
In fact, a tape recording believed to be key evidence turned out to be partially tampered with.
The district court was nevertheless convinced that Falk had commissioned a criminal brother and sister from Turkey to carry out the crime – out of anger, revenge and offended honor.
He felt "hated and persecuted" by the lawyer.
An SMS that Falk had received five days before the crime played an important role in this.
The sender informed him that "grandma" would soon receive her "deserved spa stay".
Falk himself had said in a comprehensive statement at the beginning of the trial that he was in custody for an act that he did not commit.
"Ordering a cowardly attack goes against everything that's important to me, my upbringing, my values, my sportsmanship."
He only gave the order to obtain data from the lawyer or other members of the law firm in order to be able to prove his innocence.
After almost a year of trial, Falk was convicted in July 2020 of inciting dangerous bodily harm.
After 22 months in custody, he was released because there was no risk of collusion or escape.
sio/dpa
