Olivier Thormann is currently a sought-after man: Both the Federal Criminal Court – where he works himself – and the special investigators of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office called him up for questioning. It’s about the smoldering criminal proceedings against Joseph Blatter, Michel Platini and Michael Lauber.
When they were still friends: Joseph Blatter and Michel Platini in Japan in 2008. In two weeks they will be in court together, but at odds.
For once, the criminal division of the Federal Criminal Court will be able to save itself the compensation for travel expenses that a witness is entitled to. Olivier Thormann, who has been called up as a witness in the main hearing against Joseph Blatter and Michel Platini in two weeks, has the shortest possible route to the courtroom: his workplace is in the same building, just two floors up in the representative palazzo on Viale Stefano Franscini in Bellinzona . Thormann is a member of the Appeals Chamber of the Federal Criminal Court.
A man in demand
The Freiburg lawyer is in demand because at the time the criminal proceedings were initiated against the former presidents of Uefa and Fifa, he was in charge of the white-collar crime department in the federal prosecutor’s office. That was in September 2015, and it was to trigger an earthquake in the world of football: Because of the criminal proceedings instituted, Blatter had to resign as Fifa president earlier than planned, while Platini withdrew his previously announced candidacy to succeed Blatter. A certain Gianni Infantino, who had hardly been on the radar before, jumped into the breach.
Olivier Thormann – from the Federal Prosecutor’s Office to the Federal Criminal Court and now on the witness stand.
A little over three years later, in November 2018, Thormann abruptly resigned from the federal prosecutor’s office. The federal prosecutor at the time, Michael Lauber, had initiated criminal proceedings against him. Thormann was accused of being too close to the then head of FIFA’s legal service.
The extraordinary public prosecutor Ulrich Weder came to the conclusion that the relationship had exceeded the professional framework: Thormann had lacked the necessary distance, objectivity, neutrality and impartiality in dealing with the Fifa chief lawyer. However, Weder dropped the criminal investigation, pointing out that this was at best a tricky labor law issue.
It was Thormann himself who drew the consequences shortly thereafter and resigned from the office of the federal prosecutor. A few months later he was hired by the Federal Criminal Court.
Summoned by the colleague as a witness
Now Thormann is catching up with his past twice over: On June 9, his colleague at the Federal Criminal Court summonsed him to testify in the main hearing against Blatter and Platini. The two are accused of fraud in connection with the payment of a controversial fee of 2 million francs (plus social benefits of over 200,000 francs).
Thormann’s court questioning goes back to a request by Platini’s defense counsel. The Bernese lawyer Dominic Nellen hopes that this will clarify who gave the federal prosecutor the momentous information about the CHF 2 million fee. “The proceedings against Mr Platini are the result of a conspiracy,” says lawyer Nellen with conviction. It was politically motivated “with the aim of preventing him from becoming Fifa president”. The defense will explain and prove this in detail during the main hearing.
In the federal prosecutor’s indictment, which was published on Wednesday, Blatter and Platini are accused of paying the money solely to amass Platini’s fortune. Blatter and Platini actually signed an agreement in 1999 that granted Platini annual compensation of CHF 300,000 in his capacity as a technical consultant until 2002. Platini has invoiced for this in each case, and Fifa has fully complied with its obligations under this agreement.
The bill, however, which Platini submitted many years later and which was signed by Blatter, was based on false information. The bill contained a claim of 2 million francs for allegedly deferred wage payments of 500,000 francs annually for the years 1999 to 2002. There was also a claim for social security contributions of 229,000 francs.
For this procedure, Blatter and Platini are accused of fraud in the indictment. If the necessary fraudulent intent cannot be substantiated, the responsible federal prosecutor brings into play possible embezzlement or sub-possible unfaithful business management. The indictment does not omit the possible motive for the alleged criminal conduct. The federal prosecutor’s office only wants to submit the applications for the sanctions at the main hearing, which begins on June 8th.
Blatter is optimistic
As the 86-year-old Blatter stated in a written statement, he is optimistic about the hearing before the Federal Criminal Court. “I hope that this story will come to an end and that all the facts will be properly processed.” For him, the question still arises as to who reported the events of 2011 to the federal prosecutor.
Like Platini’s defense attorney, Blatter is also hoping for clarification from Olivier Thormann, thanks to his leading position in the federal prosecutor’s office at the time. In addition to the Federal Criminal Court, the two special investigators from the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, Ulrich Weder and Hans Maurer, are also interested in Thormann. They are tasked with clarifying possible criminal aspects of the notorious meeting between Lauber and Infantino. As Maurer states on request, all people who took part in these meetings must be questioned by the federal prosecutor.
Demonstrably, this includes Olivier Thormann. He accompanied Lauber at least to the meeting on April 22, 2016 in Zurich. Thormann was also scheduled to attend the particularly controversial meeting, which took place on June 16, 2017 at the Hotel Schweizerhof in Bern, right next to the Qatar Embassy. But he ended up being absent on vacation, for which he has a boarding pass.
Thormann’s interrogation by the two special investigators should take place before the summer holidays.