- In the first judgment against an ATM sprinkler, the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona sentenced the defendant from Sevelen SG to a prison term of 74 months.
- In December 2019, the Romanian broke into a Raiffeisenbank ATM with a compatriot.
The Federal Criminal Court found the man guilty of endangering explosives and toxic gases with criminal intent, qualified theft and qualified property damage. This emerges from the dispositive published on Wednesday evening.
Expulsion from the country for ten years
The imprisonment of 552 days is counted towards the imprisonment imposed. After serving the sentence, the man is expelled from the country for a period of ten years.
The convict had used explosives to break into the ATM. The detonation caused property damage of 100,000 francs to the device and the building. The two men captured around 126,000 francs.
First trial against ATM sprinklers
The police discovered the Romanian because of a trace of DNA on a crowbar. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office issued an international arrest warrant on June 19, 2020. On the same day the man was arrested in Dornbirn / Austria and finally extradited to Switzerland.
ATMs are repeatedly blown up in Switzerland. This week one was blown up in Volketswil (ZH), and there was also an incident at the beginning of the week in Lucerne train station. A week ago a cash machine in Novazzano (TI) was broken into in this way. At the end of November, strangers blew up a machine in Vordemwald (AG). ATMs in Oberwil (BL) and Morgins (VS) were blown up in October.
The current process with the associated judgment in Bellinzona is the first against an alleged ATM sprinkler in Switzerland.