Facts
In this judgment, the Federal Court dealt with a case of counterfeiting and fraud. The appellant, [A.] , was accused of having produced a total of eight two-hundred-franc notes on October 7, 2005 and then successfully putting them into circulation in various restaurants and a nightclub. On October 12, 2005, another counterfeit note was rejected at a railway station kiosk, and on October 15, 2005, the appellant was arrested while attempting to pay for another consumption with counterfeit money. The Federal Criminal Court found the appellant guilty of counterfeiting money under Art. 240 para. 1 and 2 of the Swiss Criminal Code (SCC) as well as multiple counts of fraud under Art. 146 para. 1 SCC and sentenced him to three months' probationary imprisonment. However, he was acquitted of the charge of fraud to the detriment of the Sternen and Mc Donald's restaurants, as the lower court had denied the deceit in these cases. The Federal Prosecutor's Office filed a nullity appeal against this judgment.Considerations
1. The Federal Court first examined whether there was a particularly minor case of counterfeiting money under Art. 240 para. 2 SCC. It concluded that the lower court had rightly assumed this, as neither the procedure nor the small number and modest face value of the counterfeits revealed a criminal energy that would require the application of the basic offense. 2. Regarding the relationship between counterfeiting money (Art. 240 SCC) and fraud (Art. 146 SCC), the Federal Court made the following findings: - Putting counterfeit money into circulation (Art. 242 SCC) is not to be regarded as a punishable subsequent act to counterfeiting, but constitutes an independent offense that is in true competition with counterfeiting. - Fraudulent sales activities with counterfeit money are also to be assessed under the offense of fraud (Art. 146 SCC) and are in true competition with counterfeiting. 3. The…