120 cars, villas for rent for 24 francs a month, special license plates, 1,5 million francs in damages, unpaid loans. A sheikh from Kosovo involved his family of six, as well as two assistants, in systematic fraud. He was sentenced by a Swiss court to 3 and a half years in prison – and a 3-year ban on entry to Switzerland.
A fraud scheme in Switzerland has reached its epilogue in the Dietikon Court near Zurich, revealing the behind-the-scenes of a fairytale life built on lies, deceit and misuse of the Swiss state.
At the center of this scandal is a 57-year-old man from Kosovo, who is known as the “sheh-imam” and claims to lead around 8000 dervish believers, the newspaper “Tages anzeiger“.
He is accused of organizing a family criminal system causing a total damage of 1,5 million Swiss francs.
The police investigation began with a raid on a luxury villa near Zurich, for which the sheikh paid a staggering rent of 24 francs per month.
During the operation, investigators confiscated documents and electronic equipment; a complex system of fictitious companies serving as a cover for illegal enrichment was also uncovered.
According to the prosecution, this sheikh played the role of a real estate entrepreneur, defrauding banks and the Swiss state with falsified balance sheets, in particular by benefiting over half a million francs from Covid-19 (corona pandemic) emergency loans.
What has left public opinion speechless is the unbridled luxury the family displayed with the stolen money.
Although the sheikh declared to state officials that he was poor, the family owned a fleet of 120 vehicles.
Among them are Porsche Panamera cars, several Mercedes models and a Hummer H2 Luxury. As a car enthusiast, the sheikh spent about 100 thousand francs just to buy three license plates with special numbers, which in Switzerland are sold at auction as symbols of prestige.
During the trial, which lasted six days, the main defendant was sentenced to 42 months in prison and mandatory deportation from Swiss territory for a period of 3 years. The prosecution had requested 15 years of deportation from Switzerland.
As for the other family members, including his ex-wife and four children, the court decided to acquit them of the charges or sentence them to minimal fines.
The court’s reasoning was that a strict patriarchal structure reigned within the family where the sheikh decided everything.
The children testified that they had signed documents blindly due to trust in their father and lacked knowledge of finances.
In fact, due to the months spent in detention, the girl and one of his sons will be compensated with around 70 thousand francs by the state, after the court assessed that there can be no “collective responsibility” for the sins of the head of the family.
During the process, the sheikh apologized, explaining that as a religious leader he did not want to appear publicly as a business owner, so he used family members.
The judge was convinced that the Kosovar sheikh’s “criminal energy” had increased over time and previous fines had had no effect on him.
One of the sheikh’s aides was given a suspended sentence, the verdict for the other will follow later. /Telegrafi/