Swiss police said Friday they had captured a convicted murderer and rapist who eluded his guards while out for a walk, after the man asked a restaurant to inform the police of his whereabouts.

"/> Swiss police said Friday they had captured a convicted murderer and rapist who eluded his guards while out for a walk, after the man asked a restaurant to inform the police of his whereabouts.

" />
Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

Police recapture escaped rapist-murderer

Swiss police said Friday they had captured a convicted murderer and rapist who eluded his guards while out for a walk, after the man asked a restaurant to inform the police of his whereabouts.

Published: 1 July 2011 13:58 CEST

“Friday July 1, 2011, at around 10h30, a man asked personnel of a restaurant in Rasses … to contact Vaud police, explaining that he is the person being hunted since June 27, 2011 by the cantonal police of Neuchatel and Vaud,” said police in a statement.

“He was taken under custody by police and taken to the offices of Vaud police,” they added.

The man identified as Jean-Louis B. had grabbed a female guard by the neck, announced he was not going back to prison and took off through a nearby field on June 27.

Police organised a massive manhunt following the incident in a bid to recapture the man who had previously escaped on another prison outing. His latest escape sparked outrage in the Swiss media and public, with the biggest Swiss political party, the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, calling for such “humanitarian” outings for dangerous criminals to be scrapped.

The man was first convicted of rape in 1970, but was let out on probation and re-offended, Le Temps newspaper said. He later killed a 17-year-old girl and was sentenced to 12 years in prison, but eluded surveillance in 1986 while on a monitored prison outing.

He boarded a train to Geneva and raped the psychiatrist who had treated him while he was in prison.

For members

CRIME

‘Your permit is invalid’: How scammers in Switzerland target foreigners

Scores of foreign residents have received an email recently telling them their residency rights in Switzerland have been revoked.

Published: 26 April 2024 11:17 CEST
'Your permit is invalid': How scammers in Switzerland target foreigners

A number of foreign nationals, especially in the German-speaking part of the country, have received an official-looking letter, purportedly from the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) informing them that the Free Movement of People agreement between Switzerland and the EU has been nullified, and therefore “your residence permit is no longer valid.”

Faced with enquiries from concerned recipients, SEM responded that the letter is fake, advising recipients to ignore it and, above all, not to click on the QR code on the top.

“Fake letters from the SEM have been circulating since the beginning of this week,” the immigration authority said on its website as well as on X (formerly Twitter).  

“The letter has no impact on the recipient’s  residence status,” SEM added.

Fake jobs, real threats

However, this is only the latest scam perpetrated in the name of SEM.

There have been others in the past.

For instance, many foreigners have also received emails from addresses swissimmigration@consultant or eu_immigration@consultant, that pretend to be the Swiss immigration authority.

“In most cases, a fictitious job in the hotel industry is offered, with the senders demanding payment of 300 to 1,000 euros for a permit in Switzerland and for health and accident insurance,” SEM reported.

The first clue that this email doesn’t come from  SEM, which is part of Switzerland’s government, is that it is asking for payment in euros. If the scammers were smarter, they’d demand Swiss francs.

“These e-mails do not come from the SEM and should be considered as an attempt at fraud,” the agency said. 

Extortion attempt

And a few years ago, a number of foreigners received emails coming allegedly from SEM, Swiss border control authorities, or even the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol).

They threatened to revoke the victim’s residence permit or even expel them from the country altogether if they didn’t pay a certain sum of money into an anonymous account.

Needless to say, no government authority would ever resort to blackmail or demand payment for such ‘services’.

So a good rule to remember (for foreigners and Swiss alike) is that if threats and pressure are involved, letters / emails / phone calls ( WhatsUp messages are more than likely scams.
 
READ ALSO: The common scams foreigners in Switzerland need to be aware of 

Don’t respond

SEM as well as police urge everyone contacted by scammers, by whatever means to:

  • Ignore these messages by hanging up the phone and / or deleting emails, moving them to the Spam folder
  • Never give out your credit card number or bank account information to people you don’t know
  • If you did give your card number, contact your credit card company immediately to have the card blocked. Likewise, if you gave out your banking details, get in touch with your bank.
  • In the event of threats of extortion attempts, consider filing a criminal complaint. You can search for police stations in your area on the Police website. 
SHOW COMMENTS