The trial against alleged Israeli scammer and cybercrime principal Gal Barak on charges of investment fraud and money-laundering is scheduled to start on 8 July 2020 in Vienna, Austria. Shortly before the trial starts, his former German partner Uwe Lenhoff was found dead in his prison cell in Germany. Like Barak, Lenhoff waited in remand for the trial. However, Lenhoff has been imprisoned in Germany while Barak is in Vienna.
The German Uwe Lenhoff was arrested in Austria and extradited to Germany at the beginning of 2019 after months of investigations by various EU authorities. Since then he has been waiting for the prosecution there. Together with around a dozen suspects from various jurisdictions, he was to be charged with running a cybercrime organization, investment fraud, and money laundering. He was one of the partners of the Israeli Gal Barak, who was also arrested in early 2019 and is currently in custody in Austria.
According to the authorities, Lenhoff was found dead in his prison cell. Allegedly, Lenhoff had been suffering from cancer several years ago and had to undergo repeated treatments since then. Lenhoff was found lying dead next to his bed. The German public prosecutor’s office has ordered an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
Lenhoff had excellent connections to criminal organizations in the Balkans and Eastern Europe. In the proceedings against Lenhoff, Albanian citizens were to be charged and were therefore held in custody. Furthermore, Lenhoff maintained excellent contacts in the Netherlands. The impact of Lenhoff’s death on the ongoing extensive criminal proceedings in several EU countries cannot yet be assessed.
