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A man defrauded the canton of Bern for over 20 years. He has now been convicted of tax evasion and social fraud. The confiscated luxury handbags could now be auctioned off to pay off his debts.
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- An entrepreneur from Bern has been convicted of tax evasion and social fraud.
- The confiscated items could be sold via the auction platform E-Gant or public auctions after the final judgment.
- The aim is to pay off the pensioner’s debts.
An entrepreneur from Bern has not paid taxes for over 20 years, despite earning millions with his temporary office. He pretended to be a penniless pensioner and received supplementary benefits and later social assistance after his retirement at the age of 63.
It was not until the summer of 2022 that the canton of Bern filed a complaint, which led to a house search. The authorities discovered luxury items in the apartment shared by the man and his ex-wife.
According to the indictment, the man owes the federal government, the canton and the city of Bern a total of CHF 16.5 million.
Luxury handbags could now be auctioned off
The Langenthaler Tagblatt newspaper now reports that 200 luxury handbags were found and confiscated from the man. On Thursday, the Commercial Criminal Court sentenced the man and his ex-wife to a prison sentence for fraud. The verdict is not yet final.
The confiscated items will either be disposed of or – in rare cases – destroyed. However, it is unlikely that the expensive handbags will be disposed of. They are to be auctioned off.
The canton of Bern has its own auction platform
In such cases, the prosecution authorities instruct the debt enforcement and bankruptcy office to dispose of the property. One option is the auction website E-Gant, which has been operated as an online platform for auctions by the debt enforcement and bankruptcy offices of the cantons of Bern and Thurgau since 2021.
The majority of offers on E-Gant come from bankruptcies, not from evidence chambers in criminal proceedings. Items currently being auctioned on the site include a gold chain with a crucifix, a Ford Tourneo Courier with 61,000 kilometers on the clock and shares in a limited liability company.
However, interest in the website has been rather subdued so far, as Philip Schütz, deputy head of the debt enforcement and bankruptcy offices of the canton of Bern, explains to the Langentahler Tagblatt: “There are currently 5579 people registered on the platform.”
The starting bid is determined by the asset value
An estimated value is set for the seized assets, which usually forms the starting bid at an e-gant auction. In criminal cases, however, the competent authority decides on a minimum price. So far in 2024, 839 auctions have taken place on E-Gant, of which only one was a white-collar crime case – but the number is growing steadily, as there were only 560 auctions in 2023.
Whether an item is auctioned online or offered in a traditional auction depends on the expected proceeds. In Bern, 30 to 40 public auctions are still held every year, including for properties, explains Schütz. The public auctions are announced by the office in “suitable media” such as official gazettes, daily newspapers or specialist journals.
