In 1977, the ship
Lucona sank in the Indian Ocean, after an explosion, killing six people. Proksch, the owner of the cargo, also then owner of famous Viennese confectioners'
Demel, claimed
US$20 million from his insurance company, saying that the ship was carrying expensive
uranium mining equipment. Fraud was suspected; but investigations were obstructed by powerful Austrian politicians who were friends of Proksch. In 1988, Proksch fled to the
Philippines after Hans Pretterebner published a book about the scandal. In 1989, he returned to
Vienna incognito, but was recognized and arrested. In 1990,
Lucona was located by American shipwreck hunter
David Mearns, who discovered that the ship had been sunk by a
time bomb. On 11 March 1991, Proksch was sentenced to 20 years in prison. A year later, the sentence was increased to a lifelong term in prison. Several ex-ministers were also eventually convicted over their involvement. The ex-minister of foreign affairs was sentenced for forging documents authenticating the cargo. Two other ministers were dismissed for obstructing the investigations. The minister of defence
Karl Lütgendorf, a shareholder in the Proksch firm, had given permission to deliver explosives to sabotage the ship; he killed himself when his role in the case became clear. Proksch died on 27 June 2001, during heart surgery in the prison hospital. Proksch was the first husband of the actress Daphne Wagner, daughter of
Wieland Wagner, great-granddaughter of the composer
Richard Wagner and great-great-granddaughter of
Franz Liszt. ==Works about Proksch and the
Lucona case==