Udo Proksch
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Udo Proksch (* May 29, 1934 in Rostock, Germany, † June 27, 2001 in Graz, Austria) was an Austrian businessman and industrialist.
In 1977 the ship 'Lucona' sank in the Pacific Ocean after an explosion killing 6 people. Udo Proksch, the owner of the cargo, also then owner of famous Viennese confectioners' Demel, claimed 20 million US dollars from his insurance saying it was loaded with expensive uranium tilling machines. Investigations started and fraud was suspected. The investigations were obstructed by Austrian politicians with important functions who were private friends of Proksch. Finally several (ex-)ministers got sentenced. The ex-minister of Foreign Affairs was sentenced for making false documents (in cooperation with the Romanian embassy) proving the authenticity of the cargo. Two other ministers were dismissed for obstructing the investigations. The minister of Defense, shareholder in the Proksch firm, had given permission to deliver explosives to sabotage the ship and committed suicide when that became clear.
Proksch fled to the Philippines in 1988 after Hans Pretterebner published a book about the scandal. Proksch stayed at the palace of his personal friend, the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
He returned to Vienna in 1989 incognito but was recognized and arrested. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison on March 11, 1991. A year later the sentence was increased to a lifelong term in prison. He died on June 27, 2001 during heart surgery.
- 1988: Hans Pretterebner published a book about the Lucona case ('Der Fall Lucona').
- 1993: A film about the Lucona case (starring David Suchet) is released.
- 2004: The art group monochrom stages "Udo 77", a musical about the life of Udo Proksch.
