Crooked million-dollar deal in the Ägeri Valley

A wealthy man is now facing charges in the Zug Criminal Court over a controversial property purchase.

Another chapter has now been added to the never-ending story of the crooked million-dollar deal on Lake Ägeri. The buyer of the approximately 5,000 square metre property must now appear before the Zug Criminal Court (Strafgericht), as the Public Prosecutor's Office of Zug has brought charges of money laundering / handling of stolen goods against the super-rich local man. This is evident from several recent decisions by the Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgericht) regarding the case. The ‘Inside Paradeplatz’ and ‘Zentralplus’ portals were the first to report on this. The trial date is still to be confirmed, and the billionaire's lawyer is not commenting on the ongoing proceedings. The presumption of innocence applies.

At the root of this economic crime, which has escalated into a matter of state, is a dispute over a dream piece of real estate, the individual parts of which are held by various companies. The owner died 12 years ago, and bequeathed 45% of the shares to her son and 45% to her daughter. The daughter of the daughter, who was a minor at the time, received the remaining 10%. The two women wanted to keep the property in the family, but the son did not.

Behind his sister's back, and with the help of a confidant, he sold the residence for CHF 16 million, a price that was clearly far too low, in September 2017. In an expert opinion, the Wüest Partner real estate company estimates the actual market value at CHF 27 million, and the Zug Public Prosecutor's Office has now brought charges against the brother and his confidant for breach of trust. They too must be presumed innocent until proven otherwise.

View of Oberägeri with Lake Ägeri. The idyllic setting could be deceptive: a property buyer is now facing charges in the Zug Criminal Court          Photo: Stefan Kaiser
 

The allegation of money laundering against the buyer relates, among others, to the creation of a registered mortgage note (Register-Schuldbrief) in favour of the Zug Cantonal Bank. This allows a creditor to secure their claim. What exactly is this about? Put simply, the allegation is that the buyer obtained a loan of CHF 25 million on the basis of an (allegedly) criminal sale of the property for CHF 16 million.

Before the deal was completed, the Zug Cantonal Bank informed the buyer that it was prepared to provide him with financing of up to CHF 25 million, which represented 100% of the purchase price. This is evident from an email from the bank to the buyer, which is also mentioned in the court documents. This can be interpreted to mean that the bank considered a price of CHF 25 million to be realistic.

During witness questioning in connection with another case at the Zug Cantonal Court (Kantonsgericht) in the spring of 2023, the buyer argued that the difference of CHF 9 million was intended for a construction project on the properties. He claimed that he had agreed this verbally with the bank the day before the above-mentioned email correspondence. A manager at the Zug Cantonal Bank who was also questioned said, however, that no construction project had been included in the valuation of the credit arrangement.

Cantonal Council has set up a PUK
Numerous criminal and civil proceedings are underway in connection with the sale of the property, including the seizure of the properties and the mortgage note by the Zug Public Prosecutor's Office and a block on the Land registry entries. The Zug Cantonal Council has set up a PUK (Parlamentarische Untersuchungskommission = parliamentary investigation committee) to scrutinise the role of the Zug government in this affair. The focus is on allegedly flawed checking of a land register entry (Grundbucheintrag) and the possibility of other legally-relevant transactions being hidden behind it.

The government, with finance director Heinz Tännler as its spokesperson, opposed the formation of the PUK. The NZZ am Sonntagnewspaper recently reported that there is a private connection between the finance director and the buyer: they are both members of a building cooperative in Sils (in the Engadine) that aims to provide affordable housing for locals. Heinz Tännler told the Zentralplus online portal that he did not know the buyer of the properties on Lake Ägeri any better than the other members of the cooperative. An attempt to thereby create the grounds for his recusal from this case would be abstruse and far-fetched.

In connection with the PUK, he did, however, inform the entire cantonal government (Regierungsrat) that he knew the buyer, albeit not closely.