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German billionaireâ€™s body stolen from grave

06 December 2008 08:24 (UTC +04:00)

Vienna-APA. Thieves have stolen the remains of a billionaire who died in 2006 from his vault in southern Austria, moving granite slabs to reach his coffin.
Police believe they must have used heavy lifting gear to remove the coffin of German-born Friedrich Karl Flick in the town of Velden, Carinthia.
The corpse robbers stole the body in its oak coffin from the family mausoleum at the cemetery what police believe may have been an attempt to extort money from his widow.
Police estimate it would have taken at least six men to disinter the remains of Flick. The coffin alone weighed over 18 stone.
The coffin was reportedly made from solid zinc and weighed more than 200kg (441lb). The grave-robbers also had to remove heavy granite slabs to break into the tomb.
The late billionaire’s father was Friedrich Flick, a German industrialist convicted at Nuremberg of employing slave labour in his armaments factories in Nazi Germany. He served three years in prison before emerging to rebuild his business.
His son, Friedrich Karl Flick, steered the family concern after his father’s death in 1972.
He was listed by Forbes magazine shortly before his own death in 2006 as one of the world’s 96th richest people.