Conviction for Misappropriation and Commercial Fraud

Facts

The appellant [X.] was convicted by the Cantonal Court of St. Gallen for misappropriation and commercial fraud in several cases. He challenged the convictions by way of a constitutional complaint and a nullity appeal. In the case of misappropriation to the detriment of [G. AG] , the appellant, as a member of the Board of Directors, had withdrawn CHF 25,000 from the company's assets and declared it as an "advance payment for office furniture", but used the money for his own purposes. The Cantonal Court found this to constitute the offence of misappropriation. In the case of commercial fraud, the appellant was accused of fraudulently deceiving numerous investors by misrepresenting facts and inducing them to make transfers to him or to [H.] Ltd. The investors paid a "Commitment Fee" of 1.5% of the loan amount, in the expectation of participating in lucrative "trading transactions". However, these transactions never materialized.

Considerations

With regard to the misappropriation to the detriment of [G. AG] , the Federal Court dismissed the constitutional complaint. It found the findings of the Cantonal Court to be constitutionally unobjectionable. The appellant had not received the amount as part of his salary, as he had claimed, but had used it unlawfully for his own purposes.

However, the Federal Court upheld the constitutional complaint in the case of commercial fraud to the detriment of [J.] Inc./[K.] . It found that the examination of [K.] as a witness would have been necessary, as he, as the deceived party and the one who disposed of foreign…