“The responsibility lies with the person who signs the form”: cosmetics entrepreneur convicted
The Dietikon district court sentenced a 56-year-old Swiss man for fraud and forgery. The man had taken out a Covid loan in March 2020 that he was not entitled to.
The fraudster had submitted his application for a Covid loan to UBS – now he wanted to shift the blame to the bank.
Themenbild: Ennio Leanza/Keystone
The number is huge: between March and July 2020, Swiss banks paid out Covid bridging loans worth 16.9 billion francs, which were guaranteed by the federal government. The goal was for companies to remain liquid even though they were struggling with massive declines in sales due to the lockdown. To date, companies have repaid around 8.9 billion francs. In the canton of Zurich alone there were around 23,400 loans totaling 2.9 billion francs, of which 1.5 billion have been repaid so far. This is shown by figures that the Federal Department of Finance continually updates.
The Covid loans were – unlike normal loans and mortgages – quick and relatively informal. If the banks had carried out lengthy clarifications, it would have contradicted the purpose of the Covid loans and the whole campaign would have failed. In other words, the banks had to place a lot of trust in everyone who submitted an application. This also attracted numerous fraudsters to the scene.
There are still 510 criminal proceedings pending in the canton of Zurich alone, with the total amount of the offense amounting to around 59.2 million francs. The Dietikon district court concluded proceedings last week. It’s about a cosmetics entrepreneur from the Limmattal who had UBS pay out 30,000 francs – based on an incorrectly filled out application. He only stated high future sales figures and concealed his extremely low sales from the two previous years. If filled out correctly, his application would not have helped him get any or only a measly Covid loan.
He wanted to shift the blame to the bank
At the court hearing in mid-September, the 56-year-old Swiss and his defense attorney argued that the man had not intentionally filled out the form incorrectly. They also put all the blame on the bank. “I filled out the form exactly as the bank advisor advised me,” said the defendant to judge Andreas Eggenberger.
What happened so far:
Although he expected sales to be ten times higher, the defendant applied for a Covid loan
He announced the verdict last Wednesday and made it clear: “The responsibility lies with the person who signs the form.” Eggenberger also refuted the defense attorney’s argument that the bank had not fulfilled its obligation to audit. Because a material and formal examination of the Covid loan applications was not planned – so that everything goes quickly. Back then, applications were only rejected if they were not filled out completely.
“They acted with the intention of obtaining too high a loan,” said Eggenberger. The defendant was aware that he would not have been able to come forward with correct information.
Now the loan costs him over 13,000 francs
The district court found the man guilty of fraud and forgery. And he was sentenced to a conditional seven-month prison sentence with a two-year probationary period. He now has to pay back 30,000 francs in damages plus interest to the responsible guarantee association. In addition, the process is expensive for him with legal fees and other costs, namely over 13,000 francs.
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