The judiciary has uncovered a case of fraud involving dubious carpet repair services. Three Germans demanded over 300 percent more than the usual market price.
Three Germans were convicted of usury in carpet restoration. (Symbolic image) – pixabay
The most important things in brief
- Three Germans were recently convicted of usury in Winterthur.
- The men offered inflated prices for carpet cleaning.
- Prices were up to 300 percent above market value.
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After a lengthy criminal investigation, the Winterthur/Unterland public prosecutor’s office has put an end to a deceptive business model.
As the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” reports, the protagonists in this affair were three German men who specialized in the repair and cleaning of carpets.
The catch in this story: They charged prices for their services that were far above market costs, in some cases up to 300 percent higher.
The Winterthur public prosecutor’s office stopped the fraudulent business model. (Symbol image) – pixabay
This shady business practice was discovered in 2019. The men, one of whom ran a carpet shop in Winterthur that no longer exists, were accused of profiteering. The court orders, which were initially issued in September 2023, were revised and accepted after consultations, so that the allegations became legally binding in June.
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Overpriced services
The scammers’ real coup was to inflate the cost of repairing and washing carpets and to charge excessive prices for their services.
The fraudulent carpet cleaning ends with fines for the German businessmen. (Symbolic image) – pixabay
At the centre of the affair was a 59-year-old man who ran the carpet business alongside his main job as a real estate agent and renovation worker. According to the NZZ newspaper, he was sentenced to a fine of 170 daily rates of 30 francs each (a total of 5,100 francs) and a fine of 1,000 francs.
In addition to the main perpetrator, the two accomplices, a 35-year-old and a 39-year-old German, must also pay fines for multiple complicity or complicity in usury.
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