The hard life of a whistleblower
Unclean economic practices damage the national economy. Anyone who exposes such activities is a hero. But the life of a whistleblower can drive him to ruin, as the example of Adam Quadroni shows.
The fact that he blew the whistle on the biggest scandal in the Swiss construction industry cost him everything: his construction company went bankrupt and his family fell apart. Adam Quadroni himself was once a member of the Graubünden construction cartel, which he left in 2006; he could no longer reconcile this dishonorable business with his conscience. The Whistleblower from the small village of Ramosch GR fell on deaf ears for a long time, until the Competition Commission (Weko) finally intervened. What can happen to a whistleblower like Quadroni was recently shown by the SRF program "Rundschau" on.
Crowdfunding for Quadroni
Quadroni also had to endure an arrest. And he is also fighting for his three daughters, so that he can at least see them regularly. He tries to make ends meet with odd jobs.
The courage of the whistleblower is to be rewarded. Under the slogan "Justice for A. Quadroni", via the website https://wemakeit.com/ collected money for the ruined man. The solidarity seems to be great, in any case, more than 130,000 francs have already been collected within a few days (the initial target was at least 100,000). The crowdfunding project was initiated by student Natanael Wildermuth, who wants to become a building contractor himself one day.
What had happened?
On April 26, 2018, the Weko announced that construction companies in the Lower Engadine had manipulated procurements in building construction and civil engineering for years: The construction companies voted among themselves in each case, which of them should receive the contract. In most cases, the bid prices were determined at the same time. Several hundred tenders were affected. The agreements were made in part at the preliminary meetings organized by the Federation of Master Builders in the canton of Graubünden. The cartels concerned tenders issued by the canton of Graubünden, municipalities in the Lower Engadine and private individuals. The contract values of the colluded construction work range from a few tens of thousands to several million Swiss francs, according to the Weko.
The Weko fined the following companies a total of over CHF 7.5 million: Foffa Conrad AG, Bezzola Denoth AG, Zeblas Bau AG, Lazzarini AG, Koch AG Ramosch, Alfred Laurent AG, René Hohenegger Sarl.
According to the Federal Office, the sanctions imposed range from several tens of thousands to around 5 million francs per company, depending on the severity and number of violations of antitrust law. For some of the companies, the sanction was reduced because they cooperated with the Comco. Impraisa da fabrica Margadant will not receive a sanction because its violation of the law is time-barred. The Bündnerischer Baumeisterverband would not pay a fine, but it had been ordered to pay the costs of the proceedings, as it had been partly involved in the organization of these cartels.
The Weko decisions are not final; they can be appealed to the Federal Administrative Court. (rs)
