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CRIME

Swiss ex-FIFA boss Blatter ‘not afraid’ of going to trial

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter says he will continue fighting fraud allegations, and does not fear his case possibly going to trial, he told a Swiss weekly in an interview published on Sunday.

Published: 22 August 2021 10:46 CEST
Swiss ex-FIFA boss Blatter 'not afraid' of going to trial
Former president of World football's governing body FIFA, Sepp Blatter, leaves the building of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland with his lawyer (unseen) to attend a hearing in Zurich, on August 9 2021. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP)

Former world football chief Blatter, 85, faced four days of questioning by a federal prosecutor earlier this month in a long-running probe into a suspected fraudulent payment a decade ago.

READ ALSO: Former FIFA chief Blatter faces final hearing in Switzerland in payment probe

READ ALSO: Swiss expand probe of ex-FIFA president Blatter

In the case that shook world sport, Blatter is being investigated over a two million Swiss franc ($2.2 million, 1.85 million euro) payment to Michel Platini in 2011, who was then in charge of European football’s governing body UEFA.

Blatter was forced to stand down as FIFA president in 2015 and was banned by FIFA for eight years, later reduced to six, over ethics breaches for authorising what prosecutors termed a “disloyal payment”.

The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) of Switzerland, which has said Blatter faces “suspicion of fraud, breach of trust and unfaithful business management,” has yet to announce whether it will indict him or dismiss the case.

Blatter, who has always maintained the payment to Platini was above board, told the Le Matin Dimanche weekly he was not worried.

“I am not afraid of a trial,” he said in the interview, published on Sunday, adding that he had heard from a number of lawyers that the case against him was not credible.

In a statement issued before the hearing with the prosecutor began earlier this month, Blatter reiterated that the payment had been “based on an oral contract that regulated Platini’s advisory activities for FIFA between 1998 and 2002.”

“The payment was delayed because FIFA was initially unable to pay out the entire amount — and Platini only made the claim in 2010.”

Blatter, who spent two months in hospital in December and January after undergoing heart surgery, acknowledged though that he remained weak and could not undertake a trial immediately.

“Physically, I am not yet ready,” he told Le Matin Dimanche.

He said doctors had written him off twice while in hospital, saying there was nothing more they could do for him, but he held on.

“Now I want to continue fighting.”

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CRIME

‘Your permit is invalid’: Foreigners in Switzerland warned to avoid new scam

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
Updated: 2 May 2024 15:04 CEST
'Your permit is invalid': Foreigners in Switzerland warned to avoid new scam

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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