The 61-year-old ex-police officer had to answer for his actions in front of the Uri regional court. He was accused of having collected the fine for 55 administrative offense proceedings in cash and initially not having passed it on to the association’s treasury. In court, the ex-official admitted the acts – and got away with a comparatively mild sentence.
55 fines distributed – and money used privately
As the Luzerner Zeitung reported a few days ago, the defendant last worked as group leader of the Uri riot and traffic police. Overall, the ex-police officer did not properly forward the income from 55 administrative fines to the appropriate office. Instead, he used the collected fine for private purposes. Mainly he gambled away the fines in the casino. In total, it should have been around 9,000 francs, which currently corresponds to an amount of 8,100 euros.
As a result, the 61-year-old man was asked several times to transfer the fines to the responsible association fund. However, the man initially did not comply with these requests. In the end, however, the former police officer was able to transfer the fines – too late. The criminal proceedings for the qualified embezzlement could no longer be prevented.
The canton of Uri is located in German-speaking Switzerland and is part of the Central Switzerland region. The most populous place in the canton is Altdorf. A total of just over 36,000 people live here.
Another charge: multiple embezzlement
The 61-year-old defendant probably did not take it too seriously with respect to the law. In any case, the ex-officer was also accused of embezzlement on several occasions because, as the cashier of the Uri Cantonal Police Association, he withdrew cash without authorization. He also used the embezzled money mainly for gambling. During the proceedings, the public prosecutor’s office presented a list showing that he had diverted a total of more than 100,000 francs over a period of ten years from 2008 to 2018.
However, according to the indictment, the former police officer always intended to repay the money afterwards. Except for a difference of 25,000 francs, he succeeded in doing this. After the complaint was filed, he also repaid this amount, so that ultimately no damage was incurred.
The defendant also forged 100 bank statements
The public prosecutor’s office also accused him of having changed more than 100 bank statements in the association’s account between 2007 and 2017. Specifically, he changed the annual figures on the bank statements and increased the credit interest. He was therefore also accused of forging multiple documents. Overall, the offenses for which the 61-year-old was now on trial ranged from qualified embezzlement through multiple embezzlement to multiple forgery of documents.
Defendant confesses – conditional prison sentence of 14 months
The accused confessed to the public prosecutor’s office in the proceedings before the Uri Regional Court. Since he accepted the corresponding applications, the procedure could be carried out much more quickly. The court sentenced him to 14 months conditional imprisonment for his actions. In addition, he must pay fees and costs for the procedure in the amount of 12,000 francs.
Conclusion
Just a few weeks ago we reported how a gambling addict banker stole 500,000 euros from customers. In the present case, too, probably problematic gambling behavior led a former police officer to commit several crimes at the same time. After all, the 61-year-old spent most of the “booty” on playing in the casino. Thanks to a confession, the ex-police officer got away with a comparatively mild conditional prison sentence of 14 months.
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