Lucerne Restaurateur Faces Prison for Largest Covid-19 Loan Fraud in Canton – Full Story

The defendant is said to have received loans with wrong numbers during the pandemic (symbolic image). (Image: cbu)

A Lucerne restaurateur was in court because he applied for seven Covid-19 loans during the pandemic. Prosecutors want him to go to prison for more than three years.

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Centralplus editorial team

This is the “largest Covid-19 loan fraud in the canton of Lucerne”. At least based on the number of applications submitted by the Lucerne restaurateur for state support. This is what the Lucerne public prosecutor’s office said before the criminal court, as the “Luzerner Zeitung” writes.

The 53-year-old hotelier with roots in Italy recently appeared in court because he is said to have provided false information about the numbers he used for the applications. The court spoke of “fantasy numbers”. He received 250,000 francs, but it did not go into his restaurant, but into his own pocket.

In court, the defense lawyer said that the man had not acted maliciously. The fact that the money was used for his own use and not for the restaurant was related to his client’s fear of his existence.

However, the public prosecutor believed that the man had “great criminal energy”. So she wants three years and six months in prison and to be deported for seven years. The defendants asked for a voluntary or a shorter prison sentence.

The birth is not yet known. The presumption is innocence.