Construction manager defrauded of 3.2 million francs at Technopark Zurich – court rejects sentencing proposal
A 43-year-old Swiss man is alleged to have swindled millions through inflated invoices between 2018 and 2021. The Zurich district court rejected the negotiated sentencing proposal.
Zurich district court refuses approval: three years imprisonment too lenient for 3.2 million franc fraud
The Zurich district court has rejected a sentencing proposal in an abbreviated procedure against a 43-year-old Swiss man. The accused is alleged to have defrauded Technopark Immobilien AG of approximately 3.2 million francs through inflated invoices between 2018 and 2021. This is reported by the NZZ.
The accused was employed at Technopark from 2014 onwards and was regarded according to the indictment as an "extremely reliable construction manager". In 2017, at his request, the relationship changed to a contract basis: he subsequently ran his own business but retained his office at the Technopark. In this arrangement, he began submitting inflated invoices.
Confession, flight and forged diplomatic passport
The 43-year-old has confessed fully. The public prosecutor and defence counsel had previously agreed on a sentencing proposal of 36 months imprisonment – seven months unconditional, already served, and 29 months conditional with a two-year probation period. The man would have remained free.
At the time of the hearing, the accused had already been at liberty for over a year. He was first arrested in September 2021, and was held in pre-trial detention from December 2021 to March 2022. After his release, he obtained forged identity documents and fled abroad. According to the indictment, he used nine completely forged identity documents under a false name – including an Austrian diplomatic passport as well as travel documents and driving licences from Germany, Austria and Ukraine.
In October 2024 he was arrested again in Innsbruck, where he was then living. There he had re-established himself professionally in the security and personal protection sector and had set up an illegal weapons and ammunition depot for this purpose, including a submachine gun, pistols and silencers.
"It was all nonsense" – accused describes personal crisis
Before the court, the 43-year-old stated that he currently has around 1.1 million francs in debt. In the sentencing proposal, he had acknowledged a compensation payment of approximately 816,000 francs to Technopark Immobilien AG.
Regarding the circumstances, he explained that he had been in a personal crisis at the time. "There is no rational reason why I did it," he said. "It was all nonsense. I was simply out of control." He had abused friendships and attempted to compensate for his dissatisfaction through alcohol and gambling addiction. He had driven to the casino regularly. He described the illegal weapons as a "tool" for his new profession in Austria; he had always been a sport shooter.
By now he had completed therapy. Until retirement he wanted to pursue a "completely normal profession" and become a paramedic.
Public prosecutor defends the negotiated sentence
Unusual in an abbreviated procedure: the court asked the public prosecutor to justify the proposed sentence once more. The prosecutor argued that in economic crime cases, even high sums of money obtained through offences frequently do not result in higher sentences than street crime. The confession and cooperation justified a reduction of one third. The offence also did not appear to stem from a fundamentally criminal disposition, but rather to have arisen from being overwhelmed. The trigger had been gambling addiction – even though the accused had indulged himself in luxury, such as a boat on Lake Constance. A prison sentence also ran counter to the aim of reintegration; the accused wished no longer to pursue a profession in which he would handle money in the future.
Judge sees at least five years as appropriate
The district court did not follow this reasoning. District judge Reto Nuotclà stated that he could not see how one could arrive at only three years imprisonment in this case. The duration of the alleged offence in the main charge was four years. It was a case of sophisticated, treacherous exploitation of a relationship of trust that had been built up over years. In comparable offences, at least five years imprisonment was customary.
There were also other offences: the complete forgery of official identity documents justified an additional twelve months, committed "absolutely for personal benefit and with direct intent". The casino visits had also served money laundering and obscured evidence of the frauds. The court doubted the alleged gambling addiction: in some cases the accused had only gone to the casino once a month. Finally, the judge also assessed seven illegal firearms classified as "substantial" as additionally aggravating the offence.
The Zurich district court therefore rejected the sentencing proposal and remitted the case to the public prosecutor for re-handling. The 42-page indictment from Public Prosecutor's Office III for Economic Crime covers commercial fraud, multiple document forgery, multiple money laundering and violations of the Weapons Act.
Source: NZZ