Facts
The appellant [A.] was found guilty by the Criminal Court of Basel-Landschaft of multiple counts of qualified breach of trust, multiple instances of mismanagement, multiple counts of creditor prejudice through asset reduction, multiple counts of forgery of documents, multiple counts of obtaining a false certification, failure to keep accounts, and multiple counts of misappropriation of withholding taxes. He was sentenced to a conditional prison term of 2 years and 9 months, with 9 months to be served unconditionally.
[A.] appealed the judgment of the Cantonal Court of Basel-Landschaft. Among other things, he alleged a violation of the privilege against self-incrimination, as the criminal proceedings were based on interrogations in the bankruptcy proceedings, in which he had been obliged to make statements and submit documents under threat of criminal sanctions.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. It stated that the principle of "nemo tenetur se ipsum accusare" grants the accused the right to remain silent, but not the right to fraudulently conceal assets to the detriment of creditors in bankruptcy proceedings. This, however, is exactly what the appellant had apparently done by falsely stating in the bankruptcy interrogation that a vehicle he had contributed as a capital contribution was only leased. He had also concealed a claim.
The Federal Supreme Court considered the admissibility of the evidence obtained to be permissible, as the bankruptcy office would have been entitled to obtain all assets and business records of the bankrupt companies even by means of a compulsory search.…