Wanted man wanted Landlord in Gersau SZ is hiding from the law - now he's speaking out

The ex-owner of the Hotel Schwert in Gersau SZ has presumably gone into hiding. The man is a wanted man. He has now made a public statement.

The Hotel Schwert in Gersau SZ has been closed since March. The district council has withdrawn the operating license from operator Markus O.*. The reasons for this are outstanding invoices from suppliers, unpaid employee wages, disobedience to the authorities and incompletely paid social security contributions.

Despite this, the authorities were unable to bring Markus O. to justice. O. has gone into hiding. On Thursday, he skipped a hearing at the district court in Gersau. He also failed to appear at three hearings before the justice of the peace.

He is to be forced out of the rental agreement by court order. By being absent, the landlord can prevent the judgment for the time being. He has been in hiding for two months. Now he has spoken out in a telephone conversation with "Blick".

Months of dispute

The conflict surrounding the hotel on the shores of Lake Lucerne has been going on for months. Employees have contacted the media because they were no longer being paid their wages. In the meantime, the compensation fund has taken over some of the outstanding wage claims.

Markus O. now claims that he has not gone into hiding at all, but will not reveal his whereabouts. According to him, the employees had stolen from him, the tenant family owed him money and he had handed over the keys to the hotel. Only the debts to the suppliers would apply.

Thomas Kaufmann, president of the Gersau district court, also spoke to Markus O. on the phone. "He thought the date was four days away," Kaufmann told Blick. O. had promised to confirm in a letter that the hotel would be given up at the end of September.

No rent since February

The Chinese Liu family has leased the Hotel Schwert since 2012 and has sublet it to O. since April 2023. According to Melissa Liu, no rent has been paid since February. Contrary to his account, O. has also not yet handed over the keys.

The Schwyz public prosecutor's office is investigating Markus O. for mismanagement, fraud, threats and multiple breaches of the duty to provide information or report. The proceedings had to be suspended in the meantime because the whereabouts of the alleged perpetrator are unknown. Markus. O. has been a wanted man since the beginning of July.

In Switzerland, to be located by means of telephone surveillance, the offender must have committed a catalog offense, i.e. a homicide, grievous bodily harm, qualified property crime, robbery, sexual offense or theft in connection with trespassing.

In the case of Markus O., none of these conditions apply. It therefore remains to be seen when the authorities will reach the fugitive landlord and the village of Gersau will get its hotel back.

*Name changed