They increase their wages through criminal means or forge a document: How a Greek man, a nursing professional, a hairdressing salon manager and a postal worker came into conflict with the criminal law.
A criminal sent interested parties false pictures of a fictitious rental property (symbolic image).
Karin Hofer / NZZ
Apartments in the Zurich area are rare. No wonder pictures of apartments on social networks attract interested parties. A 31-year-old Greek came up with the idea of earning extra money with fictitious apartment advertisements: In September 2023, he published fake advertisements for a shared room or a studio on a Facebook page. He was then able to obtain a total of 5,970 francs in cash from three women without any compensation.
The women each contacted the accused, who sent them false pictures and videos of the alleged rental property. The perpetrator and victim then allegedly agreed on a rental contract, and the accused demanded an advance payment for the rent and deposit.
In the first case, this was 2,600 francs. The fraudster was even so bold as to collect the money personally from a daycare center in Zurich. He demanded an advance payment of 2,120 francs from a second victim, which the woman gave him in cash at a meeting in an asylum center. A third victim paid 1,250 francs at a meeting in a park.
The Greek was punished by the Winterthur/Unterland public prosecutor’s office for multiple fraud with a conditional fine of 140 daily rates of 100 francs each (14,000 francs), suspended for a probationary period of two years. However, the fraudster must pay a fine of 2,800 francs and fees of 800 francs.
The sentence also requires the accused to repay the amounts paid to two of his victims. In the case of the third victim, he has in principle accepted the claim for damages.
Nursing professional deceives patient
A 30-year-old Serbian nursing professional abused his special position of trust with a patient. According to a penal order issued by the Zurich-Limmat public prosecutor’s office, the 30-year-old cared for a 56-year-old physically disabled woman in her home and visited her three to four times a week. He also helped her pay her bills and gave her payment slips that transferred money to the nurse’s bank account.
Between December 2021 and May 2022, he managed to deposit amounts totaling CHF 25,500 five times. Two other transactions were unsuccessful because the payments were blocked by the bank.
The accused has been fined 180 daily rates of 30 francs each for fraud and attempted fraud. He must pay the 5,400 francs because he has a previous conviction. The revocation of a suspended prison sentence of 6 months imposed in October 2021 has been waived, but the probation period has been extended. The accused must also pay 1,000 francs in procedural costs. He was also ordered to repay his 56-year-old victim the 25,500 francs with 5 percent interest since December 2021.
Branch manager attacks cash register
A 55-year-old branch manager of a hairdressing salon deposited cash from the till in her locker in the cloakroom instead of paying it into the hairdressing chain’s bank account. According to a penal order issued by the Winterthur/Unterland public prosecutor’s office, between January and March 2021 she took a total of 8,830 francs, in 23 individual amounts between 100 and 560 francs. She used this to pay for her own expenses and stakes in casinos.
When her employer asked her to pay the missing amount, she reported an alleged theft from her car to the police. While the car was parked in a parking lot, cash amounting to over 9,600 francs was stolen from it. In this way, she tried to clear herself of suspicion of having embezzled money. But the plan failed.
The 55-year-old Italian woman was sentenced to a suspended fine of 90 daily rates of 40 francs each (3,600 francs) for embezzlement and misleading the administration of justice, with a probationary period of 2 years. She must pay a fine of 500 francs and 1,000 francs in legal costs. The former employer’s claim was referred to the civil courts.
Postal worker forges customer signature
A 54-year-old postal worker did not commit any fraudulent mail and did not make any money, but he simply forged the customer’s signature when delivering the parcel. The man was supposed to deliver a registered parcel in the Zurich Oberland in January 2024. He deposited the parcel in the customer’s mailbox and entered the customer’s alleged signature into the scanner himself.
The See/Oberland public prosecutor’s office sentenced him with a penal order for forgery in office and punished him with a fine of 30 daily rates of 100 francs each (3,000 francs). The execution of the fine is deferred, with a probationary period of 2 years. In addition, the postal worker must pay a fine of 600 francs and 800 francs in legal costs.
All penal orders listed here are legally binding.
