Zurich High Court: UBS secretary is still fined for shopping trips
Zurich UBS secretary is still fined for shopping trips
After a long legal battle and several acquittals, a 59-year-old has been convicted of embezzlement. She had squandered a million francs from the bank.
Silk foulards, beauty treatments and a trip to Thailand: A former secretary at the top of UBS used her company credit card extensively privately. The Supreme Court has now, at the behest of the Federal Supreme Court, sentenced her for it.
The Supreme Court sentenced the 59-year-old former UBS secretary to 18 months imprisonment for embezzlement, according to the recently released verdict. It also obliged the woman to pay back a total of CHF 716,290 to UBS.
These were the expenses that the court came to the conclusion that they were really “unlawful”. For UBS, however, this is a defeat, because they demanded 1.4 million francs.
This amount is made up of the million that the woman squandered between 2003 and 2010, plus 400,000 francs in interest since 2010. The judgment is not yet final. It can still be referred to the federal court.
However, it would then be the second time that the Lausanne judges would have to deal with the ex-chief secretary. In the first round, the Federal Supreme Court came to the conclusion that the Swiss woman should be convicted of multiple embezzlement – after the district and higher courts had acquitted her. The Federal Supreme Court therefore sent the case back to Zurich.
«Self-service climate»
The woman had at the trials in the District Court and Supreme Court argues that she never concealed her purchases. Everything was evident on the statements and everything had been approved by their superiors. “There was a climate of self-service,” she said at the time.
The prosecutor was somewhat of the same opinion: “The Starbankers considered it beneath their dignity to control expenses. You signed blindly.” Deriving “permission” from this omission is unrealistic. “If everyone does it, I can too” does not apply in criminal law.
Paid 800 times with the UBS card
The indictment listed over 800 instances in which the woman used her company credit card for private purposes. One day she treated herself to a handbag for 1420 francs, a few days later jewelry worth 8000 francs. They also pay for holidays in Thailand and on Sylt with UBS money. She even pulled out her company credit card at the dentist and in the beauty clinic.
It is unlikely that she will be able to repay the money any time soon. The woman now lives in the UK and helps out at her husband’s golf club. With dog sitting, she earns the equivalent of around 34 francs a week.
The woman only ended up in court because her superiors, including former UBS board member Raoul Weil, were released in the course of the US tax dispute. Her new supervisor took a better look and reported the longtime assistant in 2011.
SDA
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