Renting cars with falsified documents, driving undetected to Serbia and selling them there for a profit - a surefire plan.

At least that's what Daniel A. and Nenad S. thought.

But things turned out differently: Instead, they have had to answer before the Frankfurt District Court since Friday.

The public prosecutor's office accuses them of stealing and selling at least two cars with a total value of 50,000 euros as members of a gang in November 2017.

The head of the gang is Dragan S. He has already confessed to the act in a previous trial and was sentenced to a total of three years in prison for this and other offenses. In order to carry out the crime, he had obtained documents such as forged vehicle documents, driver's licenses and ID cards. According to the public prosecutor's office, the group, consisting of the three men and Dragan S.'s niece, first opened bank accounts in Germany and then rented cars in Frankfurt. Dragan S. also admitted in his trial that he had obtained Swiss license plates for the cars in order not to attract attention with the license plates of the car rental company during a police check. In Serbia, the two cars were then sold for a total of 10,000 euros, according to S. "You only get a fraction of the actual value for stolen rental cars,because everyone knows that the car is quickly gone as soon as it is checked, ”he explains when the judge asked.

"I was only used by them"

The defendants Daniel A. and Nenad S. assess their role in the crime very differently than the public prosecutor: A. is Dragan S.'s brother-in-law. He says he only drove in the car to visit his sick mother in Serbia.

He has nothing to do with the fact.

Nenad S. also denies having known anything about the criminal plans.

His defense attorney says that he lived in Serbia until shortly before the crime and that he met Dragan S.'s niece there.

He came to Germany to live with her.

She then persuaded him to go with the group for a visit to Serbia and to sign with the rental car provider.

Shortly after the fact, she left him.

"I was only used by them," explains Nenad S. in Serbian in court.

He has been in custody since his arrest in March 2021.

The proceedings are ongoing.