Cum-ex scandal
Trial against cum-ex scouts in Zurich discontinued
Celebrated in Germany, persecuted in Switzerland: The Stuttgart lawyer Seith and cum-ex-whistleblower was back on trial in Zurich – but this time with a surprising outcome.
The Swiss trial against Stuttgart lawyer Eckart Seith, who was celebrated as a cum-ex-whistleblower, has surprisingly come to an end. The higher court in Zurich closed the proceedings, among other things, on grounds of economic espionage. The judge said the public prosecutor who initially investigated was not impartial.
With his research, Seith got the Cum-Ex investigations into billions of dollars in fraud against the German state and other countries rolling a good ten years ago. He had proven this for a client who had been harmed using internal Swiss bank documents and pointed out the illegal activities to the Swiss authorities.
Economic Intelligence Service
However, the Swiss prosecutors were not investigating the bank J. Safra Sarasin, which was sentenced to pay damages in Germany because of the fraudulent transactions, but rather against Seith.
She accused him of conducting economic intelligence by transmitting the Swiss documents to German courts and of inciting others to violate banking secrecy. She demanded a prison sentence of several years. Seith, two German former employees of the bank, were charged.
The Zurich District Court initially acquitted Seith of all serious allegations in 2019, but the case went on appeal and then through several instances.
dpa
Source: Stern
