The quick and unbureaucratic help that the Swiss state promised to the companies affected by the corona pandemic also called illegal beneficiaries on the scene. 80 proceedings against suspected fraudsters are ongoing at the Aargau public prosecutor’s office. There are too many to be able to work on them promptly with the existing resources.
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Things had to be quick in March 2020. Dozens of companies were closed practically overnight. So that they could cover their running costs, the Federal Council, the government of Switzerland, stamped an aid package out of the ground. Establishments that were restricted could apply for interest-free loans. The federal government took on the guarantee. Because it had to be done quickly, the applications were never really checked, but simply approved en masse. Companies could apply for such loans until the end of July.
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This also called for fraudsters. Although the applications were simply approved at first, they were looked at afterwards. There are now 80 proceedings against suspected Covid credit fraudsters running at the Aargau public prosecutor’s office. There are so many that the prosecution’s existing resources are insufficient. The aim must be to settle these cases in the foreseeable future, writes Chief Public Prosecutor Daniel von Däniken. That is impossible at the moment.
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That is why the public prosecutor’s office and the cantonal police want to create new jobs for a limited period in order to be able to process the Covid fraud cases. A corresponding template is currently being drawn up by the Department of Economics and Home Affairs. The Grand Council, the cantonal parliament, will then decide on this. Since the submission is still being processed, it is not yet possible to provide any information about how many positions there should be specifically with the public prosecutor and the cantonal police.
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The 80 procedures do not even reflect the actual number of suspected fraudsters: A procedure can also involve several loans and companies. Of the 80 proceedings, seven have been completed so far. In four cases, the allegations were not substantiated and discontinuation orders followed. The penalty warrant was challenged in one trial, and a court hearing will take place there. However, those allegations of Covid credit fraud have been dropped and the trial will deal with other offenses.
Penalties in two cases
There are legally binding penalties in two proceedings. One concerns an Aargau host couple who were convicted of fraud and forgery of documents. The two have applied for and received a higher loan than they should have actually been entitled to. The loans amounted to ten percent of the annual turnover. For the two, with annual sales of around one million francs, that would have resulted in a loan of 100,000 francs.
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Apparently they weren’t interested in that. Instead, they calculated roughly how much money they would need. Because they did not know when to reopen, because there were no weddings or birthday parties, and because the summer months are the best-selling months for their business, they came up with around 210,000 francs that they would need.
And so they told their bank at the end of March 2020 that they had an annual turnover of 2.1 million francs. As the two had suspected, it was never checked whether this was true, and they received their 210,000 francs. In this way, they not only covered running costs, but also paid contaminated sites, open bills amounting to 90,000 francs, which would have been due at the end of January. The two got away with a conditional fine of 3000 francs and a fine of 600 francs.
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The second penalty order concerns a small construction company. Its owner was also convicted of fraud and forgery of documents. He applied for a loan of 50,000 francs – which was also granted to him. However: The construction industry did not suffer any significant losses due to the corona pandemic. Not even the company owner. Nevertheless, he stated exactly that in the application. In addition, he then did not use the money for running costs – it may only be used for this – but bought several cars with it.
Not an isolated case
The first case in particular is not an isolated case, writes Chief Public Prosecutor Daniel von Däniken. In many of the 80 proceedings, the pattern emerged that companies reported too high sales figures in order to get higher credits. In the course of the investigations it turns out that the stated sales figures cannot be correct at all.
The public prosecutor’s office does not want to make any estimates of how high the total amount of the offense could be. Police commander Michael Leupold said at the beginning of the year that it is assumed that the total amount of the crime would amount to over ten million francs.
