Bribery in the FOEN: Indictment
The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has completed its criminal investigation into IT project awards at the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and is charging six people at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona.
The investigation focused, among other things, on the awarding of numerous service contracts at the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) to external IT companies between 2007 and 2010. One of the main defendants, a former external IT project manager, is charged by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) with multiple counts of disloyal official conduct (Art. 314 SCC), multiple counts of bribery (Art. 322ter SCC), multiple counts of accepting a bribe (Art. 322quater SCC) and forgery of documents (Art. 251 No. 1 para. 2 SCC). A former head of the Bafu section is charged with multiple counts of disloyalty and multiple counts of accepting bribes. Two other persons are charged with either multiple bribery (Art. 322ter StGB) and/or aiding and abetting unfaithful official conduct (Art. 314 in connection with Art. 25 StGB). For the two remaining persons, the charge is aiding and abetting unfaithful official conduct.
Unlawful commission payments
The then IT project manager of the "Data Access" (DaZu) project is accused of having demanded, agreed upon and received unlawful commission payments totaling around 118,000 Swiss francs from IT provider companies during his mandate at the Bafu. In return, he ensured that the Bafu concluded service contracts with these companies. Furthermore, he is accused of having procured, together with the then head of IT, Logistics and Organization (ILO), software licenses and IT services to the value of approximately CHF 0.5 million via a company controlled by him, and not directly from the provider company, bypassing public procurement law for the Bafu and, in return, providing the aforementioned ILO head with undue pecuniary benefits of several CHF 10,000 in the form of cash, travel and equipment. The BA estimates the damage at the expense of the Bafu from said contracts at over half a million Swiss francs.
For his part, the aforementioned former head of section ILO is accused of having accepted, in connection with his official activities, from the project manager DaZu advantages not due to him in the total amount of approximately CHF 50,000 in return for the aforementioned software licenses and IT services as well as further IT contracts awarded to companies controlled by the project manager. He is also accused of having procured consumer electronics equipment as a civil servant from another IT provider company in the name of and for the account of the FOEN, but having used it for private purposes. The damage at the expense of the Bafu in this regard amounts to over CHF 50,000.
Two other co-defendants are accused of having agreed with the former IT project manager at the Bafu on unlawful commission payments totaling approximately CHF 100,000 and of having paid them to him. Two other co-defendants are also accused of having assisted the former head of the ILO and the IT project manager in the procurement of software licenses and IT services to the detriment of the Confederation.
Already in July 2015, another defendant was convicted by means of a penalty order with final effect.
The criminal investigation was conducted in close cooperation with the Federal Criminal Police.
The BA will represent the Swiss Confederation in the criminal proceedings as a private plaintiff. The BA will announce the criminal charges as usual on the occasion of the main hearing before the Federal Criminal Court.
Press release Federal Prosecutor's Office
