A 71-year-old Lucerne businessman was sentenced by the Lucerne Criminal Court to three years and four months in prison for Covid credit scams. The defendant made up the turnover of his company. He thus received one million francs when he would have been entitled to only 8,400 francs.
The court found the defendant guilty of multiple frauds and falsification of documents. He is also ordered to pay 498,000 francs in damages to a bank. The defendant reimbursed one of the two credits obtained fraudulently.
Possible appeal
The Public Ministry requested three years in prison, two of which were suspended. The defense pleaded acquittal. The judgment published on Friday has not yet entered into force and can be appealed to the cantonal court.
The businessman worked as a consultant in the optics and eyewear industry. In March 2020, he applied for Covid credits at two banks in the space of two days, when he was only allowed to apply once.
Outrageous numbers
The accused indicated in the forms that his consulting business had a turnover of 28 million francs in 2018. He thus obtained twice half a million francs. In reality, the turnover of his company was less than 100,000 francs. He would only have been entitled to aid of 8,400 francs.
For the prosecutor, the consulting firm has not been affected at all by the pandemic. The defendant used “fanciful figures” in order to obtain money to satisfy private needs, the magistrate claimed during the trial.
The defense lawyer argued that the 28 million francs corresponds to the turnover that a client who had used the defendant’s consulting company could have achieved in 2020 without the travel restrictions imposed during the pandemic. . The accused completed the credit application form “superficially”.