The Cantonal Court of Baselland has sentenced an assistant to three years’ imprisonment for embezzlement of Mündel funds. The five-member chamber followed the appeal of the public prosecutor’s office. Experts consider the verdict to be severe. The Court justified the severity by referring to the publicity this case will attract as a warning to persons holding such office. In contrast to the lower court, the cantonal court followed the comments of the experts of BALEX and came to the conclusion that the guardianship authority was in serious breach of its duty to supervise. The judges ruled that the authority shared the responsibility, which had a mitigating effect. The judges even concluded that the guardianship authority had created an incentive for the crimes of assistance in the first place through the lack of control, referencing the motto: Opportunity makes thieves.
