Facts

The Swiss Confederation, the Canton of Obwalden, and the Municipality of E. (the plaintiffs) pursued [S.] in March 2004 due to outstanding taxes. They received a provisional certificate of loss of around CHF 4.9 million. The plaintiffs then challenged:

  • The purchase contract dated February 23, 2001, in which [S.] sold seven shares of the Housing Cooperative G. for CHF 200,000 to B. (the first defendant).
  • The purchase contract dated February 1, 2002, in which B. resold these shares for CHF 800,000 to D. (the second defendant).

The District Court declared the first purchase contract to be invalid under enforcement law and ordered the defendants to pay CHF 1.21 million to the plaintiffs. The High Court essentially confirmed this.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court held that the requirements for a fraudulent conveyance under Art. 288 DEBA were met:

  • The detriment to creditors was objectively given, as [S.] sold the shares far below their value.
  • [S.] had at least accepted the detriment to creditors.
  • The first defendant knew or…