Facts
The appellant A.A. was married to B.A. under the property regime of participation in acquisitions. In the context of the divorce, B.A. was convicted of misappropriation and forgery to the detriment of the Swiss Confederation (the respondent). The Federal Criminal Court ordered the confiscation of a portion of the proceeds from the sale of a jointly owned property.
In the judicially approved divorce settlement, B.A. acknowledged owing A.A. a total of CHF 425,000, of which CHF 365,000 was considered "reimbursement of separate property". To settle these claims, B.A. assigned all claims/balances on his or the marital assets, including various accounts at Bank C.
The respondent initiated debt enforcement proceedings and had the accounts seized. A.A. filed third-party claims to the seized accounts.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court finds that maintenance claims do not fall within the scope of Art. 193 of the Swiss Civil Code (CC), as they are not based on property law, but on the general effects of marriage. Therefore, the amount of CHF 60,000 for outstanding maintenance contributions must be released from the seizure.
However, the remaining CHF 365,000, which were considered "reimbursement of separate property", fall within the scope…