Facts
The appellant [X.] is primarily accused of having been involved, together with other persons, in the fraudulent sale of leased vehicles. Furthermore, he is alleged to have misappropriated funds intended for the compensation fund SVA and to have used them for his own purposes, as well as to have passed them on to an unknown third party. On June 14, 2016, the District Court of Affoltern found [X.] guilty of misappropriation, multiple unlawful appropriation, fraud, multiple receiving of stolen goods, and multiple obtaining of a passport or permit by deception, and sentenced him to a custodial sentence of 3.5 years. [X.] appealed against the judgment of the District Court. On November 14, 2017, the High Court of Zurich upheld parts of the first-instance judgment and found [X.] guilty of fraud, multiple receiving of stolen goods, misappropriation, multiple unlawful appropriation, and multiple incitement to obtain a passport by deception, sentencing him to a custodial sentence of 3.5 years.
Considerations
The appellant claims that the principle of procedural unity (Art. 29 CCP) has been violated, as the proceedings against the various accused persons were conducted separately. As a result, he was unable to learn about the false accusations in a timely manner and defend himself against them. Furthermore, his right to be heard has been violated, as he was unable to participate in the interrogations of the other accused persons due to health problems.
The Federal Court annuls the…