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Death of Belgian family in Switzerland: ‘Father left farewell note’

Prosecutors looking into the case of a Belgian couple and their 13-year-old son who were found dead in their home in Apples in Switzerland's Vaud canton on Monday have indicated it may have been a murder–suicide.

Published: 20 June 2019 09:02 CEST
Death of Belgian family in Switzerland: 'Father left farewell note'
File photo: Valais Police

Speaking to Geveva daily, Tribune de Genève, the chief prosecutor for the La Côte region in canton Vaud, Jean-Marie Ruede, a farewell note from the father had been found.

In the letter the father, a manager with a pharmaceutical firm in Neuchâtel, indicated “life was no longer possible for him” at least from a professional point of view, the official said.

“He changed firms a year ago and he wasn’t happy there,” Ruede added.

While the authorship of the letter has yet to be formally established, investigators are now working on the theory that the father, who had been on sick leave for some time, had killed his wife and son before taking his own life.

The fact that the father was found in the ground floor of the family home while his wife and son were found upstairs is also possible evidence that this was the case, the prosecutor said.

Maude said he believed the deaths may have been caused by an overdose of medication. Autopsies of the bodies of the woman and her son had revealed no evidence of firearm or knife wounds.

The bodies of the three family members were found on Monday evening after concerned residents contacted police saying they had not heard anything from their neighbours.

The time of death is not yet known, but the La Côte prosecutor said the family had not been seen since last Thursday while the latest social media posts from the family dated back to the same day.

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Scores of foreign residents have received an email recently telling them their residency rights in Switzerland have been revoked.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