Investigation into bogus MFK inspections falls to the canton of Solothurn
Published: Friday, Dec 27th 2024, 13:20
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The canton of Solothurn must take over the case concerning the alleged fraudulent activities of an employee of the TCS test center in Biel BE. This was decided by the Federal Criminal Court. The decision shows that the Solothurn authorities received an anonymous tip-off back in November 2018, but only partially followed it up. The canton of Zurich initiated proceedings in 2021 following a confidential report.
The investigation is directed against 31 suspects. In addition to the TCS employee, private individuals and various car dealers have also come up against the police. It is a case of commercial fraud, bribery and forgery of documents.
The TCS employee is said to have made it possible for vehicles to be subjected to a motor vehicle inspection (MFK) only as a sham. As a result, cars are said to have been sold and operated in an unroadworthy condition. This is according to the decision of the Appeals Chamber of the Federal Criminal Court published on Friday.
As the parties involved come from the cantons of Zurich, Solothurn, Aargau and Bern, the question of the so-called place of jurisdiction arose. This will now be Solothurn, as the initial investigations were carried out there - albeit not comprehensively enough, as the court states.
"Simply not investigated"
In the anonymous complaint to the Solothurn authorities, written in broken German, the writer accused a car dealer of selling untested vehicles and employing people illegally. The dealer had good contacts with an employee of the inspection body in Biel, who received gifts for his services.
The car dealer was convicted by summary penalty order for violating the Aliens and Integration Act. However, nothing more happened. The Board of Appeal wrote that the case simply did not appear to have been investigated with regard to the vehicles that were not roadworthy. The Solothurn authority argued that it had implicitly discontinued this part with legal effect. (Decision BG.2024.60 of 11.12.2024)
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