Facts
The Tunisian national [A.] was sentenced by the District Court of Winterthur to a partially suspended prison sentence of 24 months and a fine for multiple counts of fraud, unlawful benefit claims from a social insurance or social assistance, document forgery, and forgery of identification documents. The High Court of the Canton of Zurich upheld the conviction for unlawful benefit claims from a social insurance or social assistance in the period from October 1, 2016 to April 30, 2017 and imposed a partially suspended prison sentence of 30 months and a fine. Furthermore, [A.] was expelled from the country for 5 years.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court confirmed the interpretation of the offence of "concealing facts" under Art. 148a of the Swiss Criminal Code by the lower courts. Accordingly, this variant of the offence also covers passive behavior by omitting to report a changed or improved situation. Art. 148a of the Swiss Criminal Code is intended to cover both action (making untrue or incomplete statements) and omission (concealing facts).
The Federal Supreme Court did not find a violation of federal law in the sentencing by the lower court. The lower court justified the sentence in a differentiated manner and considered…