Former Elvetino boss goes on trial in Zurich
Published: Wednesday, Sep 4th 2024, 04:50
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The former head of Elvetino has to answer to the Zurich District Court today, Wednesday. The public prosecutor's office accuses him of having made generous use of the company's coffers in a whole series of criminal offenses.
SBB dismissed the head of railroad catering with immediate effect in 2017. The press release at the time stated that the relationship of trust no longer existed. SBB would not tolerate any breaches of the law or the Code of Conduct.
The indictment shows what was meant by this: according to the indictment, the former head of Elvetino AG, a wholly owned subsidiary of SBB, helped himself generously from the company's coffers.
The Zug native is charged with a whole range of offenses, including mismanagement, embezzlement and fraud. The prosecution will not reveal the sentence it intends to impose on the former company boss until the trial.
The trial was supposed to have taken place in May, but was canceled at short notice and postponed until September. The accused, who is now 68 years old, spent a month in custody in spring 2019. He now claims to be a pensioner.
"Potato harvest" as a reason for payment
Shortly after joining Elvetino at the end of 2011, he hired an old friend as a consultant. He had completed a commercial apprenticeship and worked as a seaman. As an external logistics consultant, he then charged his client Elvetino a daily rate of CHF 2,500.
This consultant wrote the report on the boss's first 100 days - which, according to the indictment, he should have done himself. Over the years, the friend earned almost a million francs.
In 2015, the then CEO agreed with his long-time friend that he should pay him back 20 percent of the fee as a "thank you" for the orders in future. The consultant gave "potato harvest" or "mango harvest" as the reason for payment. For the public prosecutor's office, these were clearly "kick-backs" and therefore prohibited.
Gastro articles imported from China
Together with an old colleague from the handball club, the Elvetino boss also founded a company that imported catering items from China. This company then allegedly sold the items to Elvetino at significantly inflated prices.
These items would not only have been cheaper from other importers, but would probably also have been usable: According to the indictment, clips, salad tongs and coffee cups turned out not to be food-safe and had to be disposed of.
Truffle trade in Hungary
The former Elvetino boss also used the company money to get involved in the truffle trade in Hungary and set up a foundation for orphans in Uganda, with only the Elvetino boss and his old advisor friend sitting on the foundation board.
He also increased his own salary, squandered vast sums of money on expenses and took private luxury trips with his partner. His long-time friend and advisor and his colleague from his handball days, with whom he founded the import company for Chinese catering products, will also stand trial on September 5.
It is not yet clear when the Zurich District Court will hand down its verdict. The trial is scheduled to last two days.
©Keystone/SDA
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