Facts
The appellant [X.] is accused of having assisted [Y.] in the sale of mislabeled slaughter pigs between January 2007 and May 2009. It is alleged that he falsely certified on the accompanying documents that the slaughter animals had been produced according to the production guidelines of the Swiss Farmers' Union (QM-Schweizer Fleisch). Furthermore, he is said to have mistreated and/or neglected sick and injured pigs from the farms he was responsible for. The District Court of See-Gaster acquitted [X.] on October 14, 2015 of the charges of complicity in multiple fraud, multiple forgery of documents, and multiple animal cruelty. However, it convicted him of multiple animal cruelty and imposed a suspended fine. The Public Prosecutor's Office appealed against this judgment, and [X.] filed a cross-appeal. On March 2, 2017, the Cantonal Court of St. Gallen acquitted [X.] of the charge of multiple animal cruelty. However, it found him guilty of complicity in multiple fraud, multiple forgery of documents, and multiple animal cruelty, and sentenced him to a suspended fine of 270 daily rates at CHF 110.--.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court considers the conviction for multiple forgery of documents to be in accordance with federal law. The lower court has convincingly demonstrated that the appellant affixed false labels on the accompanying documents to conceal the origin and signed the corresponding forms himself, although he knew that the information was not true. The deception of the buyers was fraudulent, as they were entitled to rely on the accuracy of the declarations in the accompanying documents. The conviction for complicity in multiple fraud is also in accordance with federal law. The appellant at least eventually intentionally assisted [Y.] in his fraudulent actions by knowing the false information in the accompanying documents and nevertheless signing the forms. The meat…