Bribery and Disloyal Exercise of Public Office: Conviction and Sentencing

Facts

The defendants [W.] and [X.] were partners and managing directors of [A. GmbH] . They were found guilty by the Federal Criminal Court of bribery and disloyal exercise of public office. The lower court established that the defendants had granted commission payments to their former business partner [Y.] , who was employed as a project manager at the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), in order to bribe him. [Y.] had influenced the awarding of service contracts to [A. GmbH] and [B. GmbH] in the course of his duties at the FOEN.

The defendants appealed and argued that [Y.] was not a public official within the meaning of the SCC and that they had not been aware of his position as a functional public official. They also argued that the commission payments were due under a verbal distribution partnership agreement and had not been paid to [Y.] personally, but to his companies.

Considerations

The Federal Court dismissed the appeals and confirmed the conviction of the lower court. It established that [Y.] was to be considered a functional public official within the meaning of the SCC, as he had performed public duties and had decision-making authority in the course of his duties at the FOEN.

The court found that the defendants had been aware of [Y.] 's function and position and that they had granted the commission payments as consideration for the improper awarding of service contracts to their companies. It…