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Banker gets 17 years in prison for murdering prostitute in Swiss luxury hotel

An investment banker who killed a Polish prostitute in Zurich’s Dolder Grand hotel in 2014 was on Thursday sentenced to 17 years in prison by a Swiss court.

Published: 28 July 2017 09:33 CEST
Banker gets 17 years in prison for murdering prostitute in Swiss luxury hotel
The Dolder Grand hotel. Photo: Wilhelm Rosenkranz/Flickr
The Zurich district court found the 49-year-old guilty of murder, and also demanded he pay his victim’s family 37,500 francs in damages, reported news agencies. 
 
The body of the 25-year-old Polish woman, who worked as a dancer in a Zurich nightclub, was found by police in the man’s apartment in September 2014.
 
She had been reported missing by her family after failing to arrive in Poland on a planned visit the week before.
 
Records showed that the woman had spent the night with the banker in the Dolder Grand hotel on September 15th. 
 
After tracing him to his apartment, police found the victim’s body in a suitcase stuffed into a wine fridge in his cellar. 
 
The accused admitted the killing but denied any premeditation, claiming he killed her in the heat of the moment without intending to, reported news agencies during the court proceedings.
 
The pair had been in a relationship, he claimed, and she even wanted to move in with him. However, when he told her he had decided to stay with his existing partner, with whom he shared a home, she demanded he pay her off.
 
The accused said he then lost his cool and tried to shut her up, strangling her to death. 
 
“I never intended to kill this woman. I just wanted her to be quiet,” he told the court. 
 
However the prosecutor rejected his version of events, saying the man spent thousands of francs per month on prostitutes and saw himself as their saviour. He had been paying the victim for sex for several months and wanted to have a relationship with her. But fearing rejection, he killed her. 
 
Text messages between the victim and her sister showed that the deceased had had no intention of leaving prostitution or moving in with the banker, said the prosecutor. She was also about to leave for a trip to Poland when the accused invited her to the hotel. 
 
The man had brought a large suitcase to the hotel with a specific intention, said the prosecutor. He had also drugged the woman with Valium.
 
After the crime he took the body in the suitcase to his apartment, where he put it in the wine fridge and added air fresheners.  
 
The convicted murderer has already spent the past three years in prison so he has a further 14 to serve. 
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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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