Facts
[H.] was injured in a traffic accident on November 4, 1991. The insurance company National was ordered to pay him an indemnity of 160,000 Swiss francs pursuant to an agreement dated December 2, 1994. On December 22, 1994, a first manual payment of 160,000 francs was credited to H.'s account. On December 28, 1994, a second payment of the same amount was made by automatic transfer in error. On November 13, 1995, the insurance company requested [H.] to reimburse this amount. On January 18, 1996, H.'s lawyer informed the insurance company that the latter could not comply, as he only had 10,000 francs, having used the 160,000 francs from the second payment for various purposes. On March 5, 1998, the District Court of Zofingen acquitted [H.] of the charge of unlawful use of assets. On appeal by the public prosecutor, the Cantonal Court of Aargau, on December 2, 1999, found [H.] guilty of unlawful use of assets and sentenced him to 9 months' suspended imprisonment and a fine of 300 francs, in addition to a sentence previously imposed.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismisses H.'s appeal. Article 141bis of the Swiss Criminal Code (SCC) also applies to cases where amounts are paid into an account by mistake, whether due to an error by the ordering party or the bank (as in previous rulings) or due to an inadvertent double payment, as in the present case. The essential factor is that the assets have come into the possession of the accused in an…