Meiningen (Thuringia) – The children played with each other, went on vacation together or invited each other to birthday parties: “She was my friend,” Mandy Ewald (38) sobs in front of the Meiningen regional court. But that didn’t stop lawyer Yvonne K. (47) from bilking her friend out of hundreds of thousands of euros.
On Monday, Yvonne K. had to appear before the Meiningen regional court (Thuringia) responsible: The public prosecutor’s office accuses the former lawyer of breach of trust in 18 cases. It’s about around 400,000 euros, which the lawyer embezzled in order to pay off her own debts.
The worst: Mandy Ewald and her three children have suffered a serious illness traffic accident urgently need the money!
On September 14, 2019, the Ewald family got into a traffic accident through no fault of their own – all occupants were seriously injured. Daughter Anne-Sophie (19) is in a coma after the collision. She will never fully recover: today she sits in a wheelchair, suffers from incontinence and has poor short-term memory. The health insurance company classified the young woman as care level 4.
Lawyer Yvonne K. even drove Mandy Ewald to the special clinic in Frankfurt. But when the insurance company paid, she lied coldly to her family friend’s face and made up excuses as to why no payment had yet been received into her law firm account.
Yvonne K. admitted the allegations before the regional court: “I tried to get my economic situation under control, but I only made it worse.” Out of shame, she didn’t confide in anyone, but now she’s “glad that it’s finally over is,” said K. She was sorry, she would have apologized.
However, Mandy Ewald knows nothing about an apology on the witness stand.
When things got too busy for the mother of three children at the beginning of 2023, she found out about the lawyer’s machinations through a call to the insurance company. Ewald: “I wanted to report it to the police, but was intercepted by them and appeased with a deposit of 50,000 euros. That was our last conversation.”
Yvonne K. later transferred another 50,000 euros to the family. 385,000 euros are still open today.
Because it is already the third trial against Yvonne K. for infidelity, judge Wolfgang Feld-Gerdes was critical: “In the district court you got off with probation, but a week later you just carried on.”
The verdict: five years and six months in prison. Five months are already considered to have been served. She has to pay back the embezzled money.