A salary of 240,000 francs per year: “not bad!” a majority of Swiss people would undoubtedly say. But not Wolfgang Winter, judging by his actions. In 2012, the man took over as head of Elvetino, the CFF subsidiary specializing in railway catering. An activity which ended suddenly in 2017, without the reasons for his dismissal having been revealed. But an indictment obtained by the “Schweiz am Wochenende” now allows us to see things more clearly.
In parallel with his activity as director of Elvetino, Wolfgang Winter is said to have created a company importing Chinese catering items. Products then sold at exorbitant prices to… Elvetino. Not only were the goods expensive, they turned out to be of poor quality: a whole bunch of imported items were simply thrown away because they did not meet Swiss standards. The fact remains that with a gross margin of 75%, according to the Zurich Public Prosecutor’s Office, this business would have brought in more than 200,000 francs for Wolfgang Winter.
What to satisfy the sixty-year-old? Not yet. During his mandate, he twice dipped into the budget for salary increases to boost his income and pay himself bonuses. Shenanigans carried out without the approval of the board of directors. In addition, he allegedly took advantage of his position to stay in luxury hotels and travel business class, at the expense of the SBB. Extravagances, again carried out against company policy, which would have cost 200,000 francs in four years.
But everything has an end, and the pot aux roses ended up being discovered by an employee of Elvetino, in 2017, at the end of one of these sumptuous and expensive trips. And, seven years after his dismissal, Wolfgang Winter must face justice. Also singled out for having paid bribes to one of his friends employed by Elvetino, the man, now 67 years old, is accused of unfair management, fraud and corruption. He will appear on May 7 in Zurich.
