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CRIME

High school proms threatened after party firm collapses

Berlin police are investigating the apparent collapse of a company organizing high school proms whose managers have disappeared – along with tens of thousands of euros paid up front for graduation balls and holidays.

High school proms threatened after party firm collapses
Photo: DPA

At least six formal complaints have been made about Easy Abi, which on its slick website offers everything from party planning services to graduation trips for Abiturienten or graduates of Gymnasium, the German equivalent of a university-track high school.

Reported losses total at least €128,000 and one group has been hit for more than €40,000 according to police, while it is feared more schools will only realise their loss when students turn up to balls that are not taking place.

“Suddenly there was no response to calls and e-mails,” complained 20-year-old Caroline Flower to the Berliner Kurier newspaper of her experience with the company.

The company recently took thousands of euros from students and schools in up-front payments but failed to pay the hotels where parties were supposed to take place and the hotels are refusing to throw the bashes for free, said the Tagesspiegel newspaper.

A group planning a trip to Spain has also seen its money disappear, the newspaper reported.

Although Easy Abi’s website says it has been operating for years, the Tagesspiegel reported that the firm had recently been sold to new owners, which subsequently declared bankruptcy, making the money difficult to get back.

No one answered the phone at Easy Abi on Wednesday and German media reported that its offices were shuttered.

Students have been visiting its main Kreuzberg headquarters in the last few days desperately trying to figure out what has happened. But all the ringing and knocking has been in vain – no one answers.

Schools and students are now searching for sponsors and new, cheaper spaces to hold their graduation celebrations.

The Local/mdm

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CRIME

Danish neighbourhood watches keep Christmas burglaries in check

The number of burglaries reported in Denmark this Christmas remained at the historic lows seen in 2022, with the country's Crime Prevention Council giving credit to its neighbourhood watch app.

Danish neighbourhood watches keep Christmas burglaries in check

Just 660 burglaries were reported between December 19th 2023 and January 1st 2024, more or less level with the 559 recorded the previous year. 

This is a historically low level, with 1,343 burglaries reported over Christmas as recently as 2019, with the Nabohjælp app, a joint venture between the Crime Prevention Council and TrygFonden perhaps playing a role.  

“There are many indications that the Danes have become very good at helping their neighbors during the holidays and also tricking burglars into thinking that someone is home in the many houses that have been empty during the Christmas holidays,” Julie Kofoed, communications consultant for Nabohjælp, said in a press release. 

“Nabohjælp is about cooperation between neighbours, so that you make sure that each other’s homes are always kept an eye on.”

The app, which was launched by the Crime Prevention Council, together with the insurance company TrygFonden, has been downloaded by 270,000 people in Denmark, and its spin-off Nabovenner, or “neighbour friends”, numbers as many as 1,000 volunteers, who run networks of Nabohjælpere, or “neighbourhood helpers” in their areas. 

“Neighbor friends are enthusiasts who promote neighborly assistance where they live,” Kofoed said. “We are convinced that Neighbor Friends play a decisive role in getting the neighborhood helpers activated, around the whole of Denmark and especially in the areas plagued by burglaries.” 

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