Bern (awp/ats) – The Court of Complaints of the Federal Criminal Court has found former big boss Hans Ziegler guilty of insider trading, among other things. He received a prison sentence of 22 months and a 148-day fine of 330 Swiss francs, all of which was suspended.
He is also convicted of multiple breaches of business secrecy and several charges of economic intelligence service. He also receives a fine of 6,000 Swiss francs, as can be read in a judgment published on Wednesday. The Public Ministry of the Confederation had called on appeal for a sentence of 33 months in prison, nine of which were closed, a little over a month ago.
Aged 69, the former big boss was accused of having provided his co-defendant with internal documents while he was on the board of directors of the OC Oerlikon group. In addition, he exploited insider information acquired during his directorships on the stock exchange.
Hans Ziegler will have to pay 110,000 Swiss francs in court costs and still owes the Confederation some 710,000 Swiss francs in damages. His 58-year-old co-accused was found guilty of multiple breaches of business secrecy, a 210-day fine of 230 Swiss francs and also a fine of 6,000 Swiss francs.
indiscretions
The indiscretions alleged against Hans Ziegler took place in particular in the context of the sale of the Vacuum division of OC Oerlikon. His co-accused was then a consultant for Atlas Copco, the acquiring company.
In addition, the prosecution accused Hans Ziegler of having exploited the knowledge acquired within the boards of directors on which he sat. He thus made gains on the stock market totaling nearly 2 million Swiss francs. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) forced the businessman to return 1.4 million Swiss francs in June 2017, the largest form ever demanded after insider trading.
Hans Ziegler had made a name for himself as a sanitizer for many established firms. He was also a member of numerous boards of directors.
The judgment is not yet final. It can be challenged before the Federal Court.
ats/al