German court convicts man for sex hotline fraud

BERLIN (Reuters) - A court in Germany convicted a man for fraud after he racked up huge phone bills phoning a sex hotline from work and split the proceeds with a woman working at the service, authorities said on Wednesday.

"He wasn't calling for the stimulation," said a spokesman for the court in the western city of Duesseldorf.

The court handed the 38-year-old an eight-month suspended jail sentence for the ruse which he cooked up with the hotline worker while working for a local medical insurer.

German media said the man had made more than 160 calls within half a year, at a cost to his company of almost 16,000 euros (11,000 pounds). --