Abuse of trust and forgery in securities: delimitation between the offense committed abroad and that committed in Switzerland

Facts

The case concerns Clifford Irving and his wife Edith Margrith Irving, who committed a fraud in the United States in 1971. Edith Irving presented forged checks to a Swiss bank, cashed them and deposited the money into a bank account opened under a false name. She also used a stolen German identity card to open securities deposit accounts and signed documents with this name.

The cantonal court convicted Edith Irving of fraud, forgery and abuse of trust. The defendant filed a nullity appeal, arguing that the acts committed in Switzerland did not constitute an offense under Swiss law, as the fraud had been committed in the United States and the victims were American companies.

Considerations

The Federal Court examined the question of whether the acts committed in Switzerland constituted an offense under Swiss law. It considered that Article 3 of the Swiss Criminal Code (SCC) determines territorial jurisdiction and that Article 7 SCC defines the place of commission of the offense. The Court estimated that the defendant's acts in Switzerland, although constituting secondary acts, were nonetheless acts of participation in the fraud committed by her husband and that, consequently, they were subject to Swiss jurisdiction.

The Court also examined the question of the application of Article 252 SCC, which punishes abuse of trust, and Article 23 of the Foreign Nationals Act…