Because honorary consul in Austria issued false visas: Several Swiss innocently end up in Thai deportation prisons

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A fraud scandal is preoccupying the Austrian judiciary – and Switzerland’s foreign ministry, the EDA. The focus is on Justus M.*, Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Thailand in Dornbirn AT. He is said to have got into trouble for several holidaymakers with forged documents. So far, 21 people have been affected. Including several Switzerland.

One of them: Franz Lonardi (66). The St. Gallen spent eight days in a deportation prison in Bangkok during the New Year 2023. Eight days under the harshest conditions with more than 300 fellow prisoners. “I had to sleep on the bare floor in a huge hall. There weren’t even mats and we had to buy the thin blankets,” he told Blick.

Cell phones, medicines and documents were handed out by the guards only in exchange for cash. An ordeal for Lonardi, who was in poor health. At first Lonardi didn’t know what all this was supposed to mean. But then he finds out that he will be deported. Something was wrong with his visa.

Lonardi’s visa was fake

The former carpenter requested the important document from Justus M.*, the honorary consul of the Kingdom of Thailand, in Dornbirn last fall. Cost point: almost 200 euros. The consulate in Dornbirn has been attractive to many travelers from eastern Switzerland for many years, as it saved them the trip to Bern for a visa for Thailand.

But in Thailand, the impeccable Swiss suddenly found himself on a prisoner transport and was placed in extradition prison. “I was treated like a criminal,” says Lonardi. His visa application stated that he lived in Vorarlberg. The registration confirmation is forged. Because the Thai authorities assumed that Lonardi had made up his application himself, they booked him.

Eight people from Switzerland affected

After eight days in prison, Lonardi was finally deported. Before his release, however, he had to pay the equivalent of CHF 8,000 to a Thai lawyer who specializes in helping Swiss nationals in Thailand. The flight back home was also at his own expense. Spicy: The lawyer demanded silence from Lonardi for her services.

Now he has been blacklisted in Thailand for 99 years and will only be able to defend himself against it in almost five years.

He wasn’t alone

Already in prison in Bangkok, Lonardi realized that he was not alone in his fate. There he met a fellow sufferer of Jonschwil SG. He also had his visa from Dornbirn, which was also a forgery.

At home, Lonardi kept searching – and found what he was looking for. Seven other people from Switzerland got into trouble in Thailand. They have united in a Whatsapp group. Their goal: to find more victims.

The consul would have forged registration confirmations

The honorary consul allegedly responsible for the fake visas no longer works for the Kingdom of Thailand. Shortly after Lonardi was arrested and deported, Justus M. was suspended from his position as Honorary Consul. A month later, the denunciation was pronounced by the Thai embassy in Vienna. The state police in Vorarlberg eventually started an investigation against M., which in the meantime led to the prosecutor in Feldkirch filing an indictment.

“The defendant is accused of electronically sending 21 self-made registration confirmations, which were intended to be issued by the relevant municipality where he resided, together with an application for visa issuance to the Thai Embassy in Vienna. ”, writes Dietmar Nussbaumer, judge at the Feldkirch Regional Court. Justus M. has to answer for himself in court, a date for the hearing is still pending.

Justus M. is silent

In the criminal complaint, Justus M. is accused of commercial fraud and forgery of specially protected documents. He is said to have enriched himself at the expense of travelers to Thailand. How exactly he did that and how much money he was able to swindle will be revealed during the main hearing, according to Nussbaumer.

The ex-honorary consul appears calm to Blick. He knows as much as the reporter, he tells Blick. At this time, he declined to comment on the allegations.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is aware of the fraud

The Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) assured upon request that Switzerland has done everything possible to help those affected in Thailand. Media spokeswoman Léa Zürcher writes: “In this context, the Swiss Embassy in Bangkok has repeatedly intervened in writing and verbally with the Thai authorities. The embassy has also provided consular support in two cases to Swiss citizens held in detention due to visa issues and is in contact with the responsible authorities. »

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Source: Blick