- False billionaire legacy admits lies about Shania Geiss
In the trial against a man accused of fabricating an affair with reality TV star Shania Geiss (20), the defendant's lawyer admitted the charges. "It was never his intention to harm Mrs. Geiss in any way," the lawyer said at the district court in Heilbronn. His client could not explain today how he came up with the idea to publish the fake chat logs. "It was rather thoughtless," the lawyer added.
The 24-year-old is charged with defamation. Geiss did not want to make a statement before the trial and neither she nor other family members appeared in court.
The man is accused of posting a fake chat log on his Instagram account, which had around 500,000 followers, claiming he had sex with Geiss in a club in Kitzbühel. He knew there had been no meeting between them, let alone one with sexual acts, the prosecutor said, calling it a "web of lies."
He also allegedly sent the fake chat messages to two media outlets, which both reported on the alleged sexual encounter.
The defendant portrays himself as a billionaire's heir living a life of luxury on his Instagram channel, the prosecutor said. In reality, he has only modest income and no assets, and may even have debts.
The Geiss family became famous through the TV show "Die Geissens - eine schrecklich glamouröse Familie," which has been giving insights into their jet-set life since 2011. Shania Geiss is the younger daughter of Robert and Carmen Geiss and has an older sister named Davina. The family is from Cologne but lives in the principality of Monaco.
The defendant's lawyer acknowledged that the act of publishing the fake chat logs was indeed a lie. In an attempt to explain his client's actions, the lawyer admitted that the idea was thoughtless.
