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CRIME

Lausanne man gets 14 years for strangling wife

A Swiss court on Friday sentenced a civil servant from Assens near Lausanne in the canton of Vaud to 14 years in prison for strangling his wife to death at their home and burying her body in a nearby forest.

Published: 20 February 2015 10:57 CET
Lausanne man gets 14 years for strangling wife
The trial took place in Yverdon. Photo: Sjaak Kempe

The 46-year-old engineer was sentenced following a trial this week in Yverdon-les-Bains in which he admitted killing his wife in October 2012 after she threatened to leave him.

In addition to murder, the court found him guilty of breaching his duty of care by leaving their three-month old baby son alone for several hours while he buried the mother and attempted to establish an alibi.

Following extensive marital difficulties, the man was staying with friends on the night in question when he snuck out of the house and back to his own home, where he strangled his wife in her sleep, reports newspaper 20 Minutes.

After burying her in the forest and making it appear as though his home had been burgled, he returned to his friends’ house, leaving his baby son alone.

The man acted “with the contempt for life that characterizes an assassin. He thought about his actions, everything was calculated,” prosecutor Donovan Tesaury said in court, reports news agency ATS.

According to the prosecution, the man was worried he would be ruined financially and lose his house should his wife leave him.

The defence argued this was a crime of passion, liable for a lesser ten-year sentence.

His actions were “an act of desperation from an exhausted man who for a few seconds undoubtedly lost sight of what he was doing”, said his lawyer Manuela Ryter Godel.

Speaking in court to his wife’s family – who for six weeks believed the victim was ‘missing’ – the man expressed regret for his crime.

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Scores of foreign residents have received an email recently telling them their residency rights in Switzerland have been revoked.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