She had a reputation for being able to help compatriots out of trouble and was even portrayed in Kosovan newspapers and on television. In the end it was just a scam.
The accused Kosovar stated to compatriots that she was a high-ranking police officer (symbol image).
The accused arrives late for her court date – due to an alleged traffic jam – and pushes a walker in front of her before sitting down in her chair. In the personal survey, she reported several different serious illnesses. An IV pension is suspended at the moment. She lives on welfare.
The 46-year-old Kosovar, who is facing the Zurich High Court as a fraudster, has an eventful CV: she was born in Kosovo and married there at the age of 12. At the age of 13 she was already the mother of a son. In 1989, at the age of 14, she traveled to Switzerland with her husband as an asylum seeker. A year later, a daughter was born.
She experienced serious escalations of violence early on and was confronted with death threats. Because her husband was a member of a Kosovan drug cartel. In April 1993, she and her children were shot at. Her uncle killed her then three-year-old daughter and injured the accused and her son, some seriously. Since then she has received an IV pension and has been taking psychotropic drugs. Unlike her son, she never naturalized and only has B status.
According to her defense lawyer, she gained a reputation in the Kosovar community in Switzerland for being able to help in hopeless situations. Articles about her in Kosovar newspapers and on Kosovar television also contributed to this. According to the prosecutor’s office, it was all just a scam.
Disguised as a police officer
The woman is accused in four independent cases of having ripped off compatriots. She showed her victims photos, ID cards and forged documents and assured them that she worked for the cantonal police and had personal connections to authorities and offices. You can obtain legal benefits such as early release from prison or early lifting of entry bans. According to the indictment, she was paid a total of 130,000 francs for such services.
In November 2020, the Hinwil District Court sentenced her to a conditional prison sentence of 24 months and a conditional fine of 15 daily rates for multiple commercial fraud. The judgment of the lower court states, among other things, that the accused perfidiously missed no opportunity to convince victims of their alleged police activities and their influence on Swiss authorities for more than a year. She continued with her lies even after the victims found out about her and demanded her money back.
With their “systematic and targeted approach” they have exploited the plight and the trust of their Kosovar compatriots in a particularly ruthless way for their own economic benefit. Among other things, she used newspaper articles, a Facebook profile on which she was pictured with a police car, combox announcements as an alleged police officer, fake police ID cards or a false Swiss passport, fake business cards or fake text messages from alleged third parties to commit the crime.
She not only modified her own CV, but also included her environment. Among other things, she stated that she was a good friend of attorney Valentin Landmann, who would also take care of the matter. She even invented fictional people, took over their roles and sent messages on their behalf.
She led her victims to believe that she was a civilian senior police officer in charge of serious cases. A man who was trying to get a relative released from prison expressed his astonishment that there were people with Kosovar roots working for the Swiss police authorities. She just said he obviously didn’t know everything about Switzerland and the police. She also forged two letters from the federal court. In one of them, the Federal Supreme Court demanded a deposit of 50,000 francs as security for the alleged reopening of a case of subsequent mitigation of a sentence due to an entry ban.
Prosecutor requests increased sentence
The woman, who – for an alleged policewoman – speaks with a very clear accent, does not make any statements in front of the Supreme Court. Your defense attorney requests that the case be remanded to the lower court. A new psychiatric report must be drawn up. The woman is not guilty. You live in a different world. Her personality is highly conspicuous and abnormal.
Their statements are not signals of lies, but signals of illness. Despite overwhelming evidence, she still categorically denies her actions and is convinced of her innocence. This is not a calculation, but has pathological causes. As a contingent motion, the defense attorney submits numerous motions to take evidence and demands an acquittal.
Although the Hinwil district court had approved the prosecutor’s request for the sentence, the latter is now demanding that the sentence be increased to 36 months. After re-examination of the case, the objective seriousness of the crime can no longer be classified as easy, as was the case in the previous instance. The woman’s erected building of lies, “which has no equal”, was given too little weight. A psychiatric report should not be commissioned. The adaptive behavior of the accused clearly showed that they always had a connection to reality.
In her closing remarks, the accused then speaks again on the matter. The prosecutor himself knows that she said from the beginning that she had nothing to do with these people and had never received any money from them. She wants the truth to come out.
The verdict had not yet been announced on the day of the trial, but was later served in writing in the dispositif without reason. The higher court confirmed the lower court: the 46-year-old woman was found guilty of multiple commercial fraud and other offenses and was sentenced to a conditional prison sentence of 24 months and a conditional fine of 15 daily rates. She is obliged to pay damages totaling 64,800 francs and 12,000 euros. Higher demands are referred to the civil way.
Judgment SB210227 of June 28, 2022, not yet final.