Tax evasion through works of art Dolder owner must pay CHF 4 million fine

The Zurich High Court has confirmed the verdict: Dolder owner Urs E. Schwarzenbach must now definitely pay the fine of 4 million francs. The reason: tax evasion.

In May 2018, the Bülach District Court sentenced Dolder owner Urs E. Schwarzenbach to a fine of CHF 4 million for tax evasion. The case ended up before the High Court in Zurich. It has now been decided in writing that he must definitely pay this money.

In the meantime, the ruling has been appealed twice to the Federal Supreme Court and sent back to Zurich. However, this judgment is now legally binding. Schwarzenbach accepts the fine.

Tax evasion when importing works of art

It is just one of countless legal disputes in which Schwarzenbach has been involved. The now 76-year-old was accused of tax evasion in connection with the import of works of art.

The original accusation was that in 123 cases he had failed to declare the import of works of art and in 27 cases he had under-declared the value of the goods. In total, over 3.7 million francs in import taxes were wrongly not levied or not paid.

High court criticizes "undue delay"

In its latest ruling, the Supreme Court criticized the "undue delay" in the case. The criminal proceedings were opened back in October 2012 and have thus already lasted twelve years. The proceedings fill 95 federal folders.

However, Schwarzenbach came under scrutiny in September 2012 when customs officials caught him at Zurich airport with undeclared art paintings worth over 300,000 francs in his luggage.

Schwarzenbach told customs officials that the time-consuming declaration and clearance of the items had cost him too much time, so he had decided not to go through with it.

At the end of 2013, the Federal Customs Administration initiated criminal proceedings against the financier. Countless other proceedings followed.