Federal Court Conviction of a commodities trader overturned
The Federal Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of a commodities trader to a conditional fine and a fine of CHF 72 million. The Vaudois judiciary should no longer have judged the case after the Office of the Attorney General had discontinued the proceedings.
07.03.2025, 12:00
SDA
In 2021, the Vaud cantonal court sentenced the Canadian businessman to a conditional fine of 270 daily rates of CHF 3,000 and a fine in the millions. The man, who lives in Vaud, was found guilty of tax fraud.
The Federal Supreme Court first overturned this verdict in 2022 due to a violation of the right to be heard. In a decision published on Friday, it once again overturned the lower court's guilty verdict.
This time, the federal judges stated that proceedings conducted by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland against the trader for a similar set of offenses had been discontinued in June 2021. This is tantamount to an acquittal. The businessman could therefore not be tried again in the same case.
