Facts
The case concerns a man, X, who purchased a portfolio of claims belonging to his brother-in-law, Y, for an amount of 500,000 francs, whereas the actual value of these claims was around 10 million francs. This transaction took place on July 26, 1991, while Y was in a difficult financial situation. X was sentenced to 10 months in prison with probation for fraudulent bankruptcy by the court of first instance, a decision confirmed by the court of appeal of the canton of Berne.
X filed a nullity appeal with the SCC, contesting the decision of the court of appeal and requesting his acquittal. The SCC partially admitted the appeal, annulled the decision of the court of appeal, and referred the case for a new decision.
Considerations
The SCC examined two main issues: the statute of limitations of the criminal action and the punishability of the third party in the case of an effective reduction of assets to the detriment of creditors. With regard to the statute of limitations, the SCC considered that the initiation of the criminal proceedings against X on June 21, 1996, had interrupted the statute of limitations, but the question of whether the initiation of the criminal proceedings was sufficient to interrupt the statute of limitations could remain open, as an arrest warrant had also been issued on the same day, which constitutes an act interrupting the statute of limitations under the law.
With regard to the punishability of the third party, the SCC considered that the third party who acquires assets within the framework of an effective reduction of assets to the detriment of creditors is not punishable if they have not acted beyond the necessary participation. The SCC estimated that X had not exceeded the limits of necessary participation by purchasing the portfolio of claims and that,…