Facts
The case concerns a professional guardian, M., who was convicted of falsification of documents committed in the exercise of his functions under Article 317, paragraph 1, subsection 2, of the Swiss Criminal Code (SCC). M. had been appointed guardian of a person, L., and had discovered a safe containing precious metals worth approximately 115,000 Swiss francs. He did not include these assets in the inventory and reports required by the guardianship law, which led to his conviction.
The facts were tried by the Cantonal Court of Zurich, which sentenced M. to seven months' imprisonment with probation and a two-year probationary period. M. filed a nullity appeal against this decision, which was rejected by the Federal Court.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined the question of whether M. had acted as a public official within the meaning of Article 110, paragraph 4, of the SCC. The court considered that M. had been appointed as a professional guardian by a supervisory commission and had concluded an employment contract with this commission. He had also been appointed guardian of L. by the Vormundschaftsbehörde Opfikon.
The court found that M. had acted as a public official within the meaning of Article 110, paragraph 4, of the SCC, as he had been appointed to exercise public functions and was subject to the supervision of the Vormundschaftsbehörde. The court also considered that the falsification of documents committed by M. was a violation of his duties as a guardian and constituted falsification of documents committed in the…