Kosovar deceived Swiss unemployment fund, convicted but not expelled

A Kosovo woman was convicted of receiving unemployment benefits in Zvica for a year, while working. She, according to the prosecution, should have been expelled from the country for this reason, but the Supreme Court “closed its eyes” for a reason.

Whoever receives a monthly salary and receives unemployment benefits simultaneously commits a criminal offence. A Kosovo woman was forced to try this. By the end of August 2019 until the end of August 2020, the woman had received unemployment benefits, broadcasting albinfo.ch. It was paid over 11,000 francs all year round.

The fact that she received money from the unemployment insurance fund is not illegal. But illegal was the action she was concealing that she was working for most of this time, writes Limmattler Zeitung. Every month she answered negatively questions about her employment and signed them, even though she was employed as a cleaning woman and earned over 17,000 during the entire period.

In May 2023, public prosecutor Rheinfelden-Laufenburg's office filed charges. She demanded that the Kosovo woman be sentenced to a 60-day fine for multiple frauds, pay a fine of 1,600 francs, and then be expelled from the country.

However, the Rheinfeldn District Court ruled differently in June 2024. Even though the court cleared her of multiple fraud charges, she sentenced her to 60 daily tariffs of 90 CHF each and imposed a fine of 1,350 CHF for repeated illegal taking of social insurance benefits. The court refrained from sending the woman out.

However, the public prosecution was not satisfied with the decision and filed a complaint at the end of June 2024, where it continued to seek condemnation on multiple fraud charges, it submitted. Albinfo. ch, broadcast Periscope.

The Supreme Court also followed this request. This was because this delta fulfilled its deceptive purpose, which is necessary for a punishment for multiple fraud.

The malicious intent means that fraud was so difficult to detect that the authorities would not have been able to reveal it exactly as the court has considered. However, the accused argued that the needed relationship of faith was lacking. But the Supreme Court sees it differently.

In view of the large number of applications for unemployment benefits, the unemployment insurance fund cannot be blamed for failing to conduct full controls in this case”, the decision said.

It also says: “A unemployment insurance fund cannot be forced to suspect abuse of all unemployment insurance benefits beneficiaries.” The defendants' documents have not given the unemployment insurance fund any reason for particular suspicion.

Then, her “motive was not to buy any luxury articles with extra money that did not belong to her, but her actions were because of her husband's financial debt”, the Supreme Court explained in its decision. Therefore, it is sentenced to 60 daily 90 francs for multiple frauds and receives a fine of 1,350 francs.

Under the law, expulsion from Switzerland would be mandatory in the case of the Kosovo woman. However, the Supreme Court views this as a difficult case and therefore does not expel it from the country, transmit albinfo.ch. Such an deportation would destroy the “family, the Supreme Court explained.

Kosovar has lived in Switzerland for 18 years. /Periscope/