Aargau lawyer not found: trial over 699,000-franc embezzlement collapses
An Aarau lawyer failed to appear at a court hearing concerning the embezzlement of nearly 700,000 francs. Police were unable to locate him.
Aarau hearing fails: lawyer in hospital, police unable to find him
According to Google News CH — Crime (de), the court hearing against a regionally known Aargau lawyer before the Aarau district court collapsed on Thursday — the accused did not appear, and police were unable to locate him.
The public prosecutor has accused the man of multiple counts of embezzlement, money laundering, fraud and disobedience in insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings. The total loss amounts to 698,888.75 francs, distributed among eleven victims. The highest individual amount missing from one client is 140,616 francs. According to the charge sheet, the lawyer allegedly retained at least some of the funds that he recovered from insurance companies on behalf of his clients and put the affected parties off with excuses.
The public prosecutor is seeking a prison sentence of six years and the enforcement of an earlier suspended fine of 192,600 francs.
Police escort fails
The court apparently anticipated the defendant's absence and ordered police escort — as had already been necessary at the conclusion of questioning by the public prosecutor. On Thursday, court president Andreas Schöb announced that police had been unable to locate the man. Only his defence counsel, three victims and the full court panel were present in the courtroom.
The defence counsel initially requested that the media be expelled from the courtroom — he had "highly personal" information concerning the whereabouts of his client. The court rejected the request. Court proceedings are fundamentally public, Schöb emphasised; the relevant protective provisions are not intended for defendants.
Lawyer reportedly in cantonal hospital according to defence counsel
The defence counsel then made a second request: his client was to be recorded as absent with justification "due to his medical situation". He had seen him that morning and had been present when he was taken to the emergency department of the cantonal hospital by ambulance. A doctor had confirmed that the defendant was "at the present time" not fit to stand trial. Police officers present in the courtroom verified by telephone that the man was indeed hospitalised.
Court president Schöb then asked whether the medical condition had been self-inflicted or caused by third parties. The defence counsel asked for understanding that he would not answer this "in public".
Whether the absence is to be recorded as justified or unjustified, Schöb left open for now. The court would summon the defendant to a second hearing and then also decide on this question.
Not the first time
This is not the first time the lawyer has missed a court date for health reasons. In an earlier proceeding — also concerning embezzlement of client funds — he had lodged an appeal against a penal order and would have had to appear in court. The first hearing was adjourned due to his alleged "accident". At the second hearing, the court had doubts about the claimed inability to stand trial, not least because the lawyer had meanwhile been spotted at a social event.
The court ordered that a doctor should assess his fitness to stand trial on site. When the lawyer nonetheless failed to appear, the court regarded this as a withdrawal of the appeal, which meant the penal order became final. Whether this approach was correct is now to be clarified by the European Court of Human Rights — the lawyer has taken the proceedings there.
Victims travelled in vain
Three of the eleven victims had attended the hearing and expressed anger at their wasted journey. One is missing 2,500 francs, two women are each missing 95,000 and 50,000 francs respectively. A woman who had travelled from the canton of Lucerne said she would have liked to see her former lawyer face to face and ask him why — given that he earned a lot of money — he would do such a thing. He had explained his failure to pay her by saying, among other things, that he was "just rather forgetful".
Until a final conviction is handed down, the presumption of innocence applies.
Source: Google News CH — Crime (de)