The arrest was the result of a Liebherr internal investigation, a Liebherr Nenzing spokesman said.

A regular biannual internal audit at the beginning of the year raised suspicions. “Some documents or materials have been found; that’s why charges were filed immediately,” said the spokesman.

A prosecutor for the Austrian state of Vorarlberg, which includes the town of Nenzing, reported that EUR 86,000 was missing from the books. The Liebherr spokesman said Liebherr management have confirmed the figure will be higher, though he did not say how much higher.

In any case, Liebherr have fired him. “The irregularities prevailing gave Liebherr reason enough to fire the person on the spot, independent of the legal point of view of whether he will be charged” with a crime, the spokesman said.

Neither Liebherr nor the Vorarlberg public prosecutor’s office released the name of the arrested man.

Vorarlberg prosecutor Reinhard Fitz, who is not working on the case, confirmed that the man was arrested in early May, and as of May 15 the man remains in custody, but has not been charged.

In a few weeks a judge would interview him, Fitz said. The prosecutors would make a decision of whether or not to proceed based on the judge’s report of the interview.

If the case were to go to trial, the case would be heard in front of a jury of two judges and two laypeople in August or September. The maximum penalty for embezzlement is 10 years in prison; the minimum might be six months, Fitz said.

Internal investigations are continuing in Nenzing, and in Sunderland, UK, where Nenzing runs a manufacturing plant for ship, offshore and special cranes, the spokesman said.

A Northumbria, UK police spokeswoman told Cranes Today that so far the police force’s economic crimes unit has received no communication from either Liebherr or the Austrian police.

“As long as there is no legal decision, there is a presumption of innocence,” the Liebherr spokesman said.

“The fact that it has been brought to the prosecutor shows full cooperation on the side of Liebherr,” he said.

Nenzing managing director for engineering, Walter Länge, acknowledged that there have been rumours and apologised for the “regretful incident” before a presentation at the 12th Offshore Crane and Lifting Conference in Stavanger, Norway, on Thursday 10 May.

He assured the audience that the incident did not affect or involve any third parties.