Man convicted after stealing more than 2,600 pairs of skis

A longtime employee at one of the world’s biggest ski manufacturers has been convicted of stealing thousands of skis from his workplace.

A lucrative side business

A 58-year-old man in Austria has been convicted of stealing more than 2,600 pairs of skis from the Atomic factory where he worked.

Then, he quietly turned the discarded equipment into personal profit over a two-year period.

According to Salzburger Nachrichten, ORF Salzburg, and Yahoo Life, the thefts took place between 2021 and late 2023 at Atomic’s production site in the Pongau region of Salzburg.

Factory rejects

The stolen skis were factory rejects, products with minor defects that were meant to be destroyed.

Instead, the worker took them home and sold them for about €50 ($54) each, far below retail value.

Suspended sentence

The Regional Court of Salzburg sentenced the man to 14 months in prison, suspended, and ordered him to repay €80,000 ($88,000) to the company.

Court documents said security footage captured him loading skis into a vehicle at night, helping investigators uncover the full extent of the theft.

Not acting alone

Prosecutors said the worker didn’t operate by himself.

A 72-year-old Bulgarian man, identified as his accomplice, helped resell roughly 600 pairs of the stolen skis.

He was also convicted and given an eight-month suspended sentence, according to Austrian media.

“I did something stupid”

In court, the former Atomic employee apologized “to the company, to my family, and to the court,” acknowledging that he had “done something stupid.”

He claimed that he often sold the skis for even less than €50 and that his accomplice knew they came from his workplace.

Taken or stolen

“[The 72-year-old] knew that I worked for Atomic,” the man said. “I also told him I had taken the skis.”

When the judge asked, “By ‘taken,’ do you mean ‘stolen’?” he simply replied, “Yes.”

A costly mistake

The court ruled that while the thefts caused significant financial damage, the man’s cooperation and clean record spared him from immediate prison time.

Atomic, based in Altenmarkt im Pongau, is one of the world’s best-known ski manufacturers, producing hundreds of thousands of pairs each year for both professional and recreational skiers.

This article is made and published by Camilla Jessen, which may have used AI in the preparation