Udo Proksch (29 May 1934 – 27 June 2001) 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.[3]
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. Fraud was suspected; but investigations were obstructed by powerful Austrian politicians who were friends of Proksch.[4]
In 1988, Proksch fled to the Philippines after Hans Pretterebner published a book about the scandal.[2]
In 1989, he returned to Vienna incognito, but was recognized and arrested. In 1990, Lucona was located by American shipwreck hunter David Mearns, who discovered that the ship had been sunk by a time bomb.[5]
On 11 March 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 defence Karl Lütgendorf, a shareholder in the Proksch firm, had given permission to deliver explosives to sabotage the ship; he killed himself when his role in the case became clear.[6]
Proksch died on 27 June 2001, during heart surgery.[7]
Proksch was the first husband of the actress Daphne Wagner, daughter of Wieland Wagner, great-granddaughter of the composer Richard Wagner and great-great-granddaughter of Franz Liszt.[3]
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