The court justifies its judgment in the Vincenz case on 1200 pages

The latest developments:

What are the allegations in the Raiffeisen case?

The main suspects Pierin Vincenz and his former business partner Beat Stocker were convicted in April 2022 of fraud against their former employers, the Raiffeisen Group and the financial service provider Aduno (today Viseca). According to the Zurich district court, the two bosses secretly took shares in several companies and then made sure that Raiffeisen and Aduno took them over. Vincenz and Stocker sat on both sides of the negotiating table – as buyers and sellers – and, according to the court, made unlawful profits running into millions from their shadow holdings. Specifically, this is about:

-> The SME investment company Investnet. Investnet briefly explained.
-> The terminal service provider Commtrain. Commtrain briefly explained.
-> The rental deposit broker Eurokaution. Euro deposit briefly explained.
-> French-speaking Switzerland’s Genève Credit & Leasing (GCL). GCL briefly explained.
-> Arena Thun. The case briefly explained.

In the Commtrain case judged the actions of Vincenz and Stocker to be fraudulent. They concealed their private involvement when they sold the company to their employers. Thus, the criteria for fraud are met.

In the case of Investnet the court argued similarly. The main point of contention here was whether a transfer from Stocker to Vincenz amounting to 2.9 million francs was a kind of “split of spoils” or a loan. The court was convinced that one could not speak of loans, as the defense is trying to do. In this case, there is also a private bribery of Peter Wüst and Andreas Etter.

In the case of the company GCL According to the court, Beat Stocker and Stéphane Barbier-Mueller agreed. In addition, Vincenz later influenced the contract negotiations, which constitutes private bribery.

Finally, both Stocker and Vincenz were convicted of embezzlement and unfaithful business management. They are said to have paid private expenses, including visits to cabaret, with company money. The court ruled that these visits were not justified on business grounds. Individual trips by Vincenz were also of a private nature and not business trips. It’s about excessive expenses.

Vincenz was acquitted on several counts because the public prosecutor’s office could not provide any solid evidence.

What penalties were imposed?

Pierin Vincent, the former Raiffeisen boss, is sentenced to an unconditional prison sentence of 3 years and 9 months for fraud, attempted fraud, embezzlement, dishonest business management and forgery of documents.

Judge Sebastian Aeppli justified the sentence as follows: 30 months for the Investnet case, 12 months for GCL and 6 months each for Commtrain and the Euro deposit. Because of the massive prejudice in the media, the court reduced the sentence by 9 months. The 106 days in custody are also taken into account. Vincenz has to pay a conditional fine of 280 daily rates of 3,000 francs, i.e. 840,000 francs.

Beat Stocker, the former boss of the credit card company Aduno, is convicted of fraud, attempted fraud, multiple unfair business dealings, passive private bribery and multiple breaches of trade secrets. He receives an unconditional prison sentence of 4 years. The court justified the fact that the penalty for Stocker is higher than for Vincenz by saying that he had benefited even more financially from the illegal deals. In addition, Stocker received a conditional fine of 160 daily rates of 3,000 francs, i.e. 480,000 francs.

The judgments of the district court, chaired by President Aeppli, are comparatively harsh: the defense had pleaded for acquittal. The public prosecutor Marc Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel demanded 6 years’ imprisonment. In addition, the two main suspects are said to be paying their companies damages in an amount that is not yet known. In the case of Commtrain alone, 2.75 million Swiss francs are due. The accused must also pay for the court costs, which amount to around 200,000 francs.

The accused Andreas Etter (founder of Investnet), Ferdinand Locher (founder of Eurokaution) and Stéphane Barbier-Mueller (President of the Geneva-based credit company Genève Credit & Leasing, GCL) were sentenced to conditional fines. The proceedings against Peter Wüst (co-founder of Investnet) were dropped because of his terminal illness; libertine is on Deceased 17 December 2022. One of Vincenz’s communications advisors, who was also accused, was acquitted.

Are the convicts in prison?

The verdict is not yet legally binding. The presumption of innocence still applies. Therefore, all the accused are at large.

What’s next?

In April, the District Court of Zurich rendered its verdict and briefly explained it orally. More than seven months later – in January 2023 – the written judgment with the detailed reasons is to be sent to the parties. The parties then have 30 days to submit their appeals. Lorenz Erni, Pierin Vincenz’s defense attorney, has already announced an appeal to the Zurich Higher Court in advance.

Chronology of the main events