According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Freiburg, there were no criminal offenses during the construction of two Migros stores in the canton of Freiburg. So I stopped criminal proceedings on suspicion of disloyal business management.
This was announced by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Tuesday. She set her sights on Damien Bieler, former president of the Neuchâtel-Fribourg Migros cooperative, and former managing director of the regional cooperative. However, the two are not off the hook yet.
On the other hand, the stop order is not yet legally binding; They can be appealed to in the criminal section of the cantonal court. On the other hand, the Public Prosecutor’s Office points out that the case has civil law aspects as well. These shall be ruled by the civil courts.
Whether Migros himself would dare to go to civil court is an open question. At the request of this newspaper, the Migros cooperative wrote to Neuchâtel-Fribourg that it takes note of the termination of the criminal proceedings. You will analyze the decision.
Extensive investigations
Criminal proceedings began in 2019 after the Migros cooperative and regional cooperative in Neuchâtel-Freiburg filed criminal charges. The case centered on the creation of two Migros markets in Belvaux and La Roche. Beller was suspected of having enriched himself as a real estate investor and businessman.
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, one of the construction sites was operated by a company operated by the Beller Corporation. The other site was taken care of by a company which was turned over to Beller a few months after the work was completed.
Migros and the two companies entered into a general contractor agreement. As a result, Migros was obliged to pay its contractual partners 800,000 francs – “as a contribution to building the necessary infrastructure to accommodate Migros”.
wiretapping phone
As part of the comprehensive investigation, the former general manager’s phone was tapped, as evidenced by Tuesday’s statement. At the end of the criminal investigation, the prosecutor’s office came to the conclusion that the suspicion of dishonest management, possibly fraud, could not be proven.
In his job, Beller did not have the opportunity to be found guilty of dishonest business conduct. Nor did he induce the former managing director to commit fraud – “there were no falsehoods to suggest fraud”.
It is still an open question whether the contracts were concluded solely in favor of Damien Piller or whether there was any consideration for Migros. This question must be decided by the civil courts. (SDA/Red)
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