On May 13, a 42-year-old man was arrested by customs officers as he tried to flee towards France. At the time of his arrest, he had in his possession “a SIG (Services Industrielles de Genève) key of dubious origin”. These are the words of the criminal order of May 14 (read box). However, it turns out that the forty-year-old is being prosecuted for theft, damage to property and receiving stolen property. How can we explain the presence of this pass which gives access to Geneva buildings in the hands of this defendant? What are the risks?
“There are around 14,000 SI (or SIG) keys in circulation in Geneva,” says Isabelle Dupont Zamperini, director of public relations at SIG. Who owns it? “More than half are in the hands of “state agents”, namely the police, firefighters, SIG, state services and municipalities,” she continues. Electrical installers can also request it; companies having to work on security installations; real estate agencies but also carpenters, installers of antennas and communication networks and even home caregivers.
These keys give access to buildings and allow you to open technical rooms, like a cabinet containing a meter or the cellars of a building, “but in no case do they open a home!” insists the spokesperson.
Over the past ten years, 4,642 keys have been lost and 436 stolen. One obviously landed in the hands of the malicious forty-year-old. How? Mystery. “Until around 2018, when a key was stolen, you had to file a complaint and there was a publication in the Official Notice Sheet,” adds Isabelle Dupont Zamperini. From now on, for a lost or stolen key, you have to pay 500 francs for a magnetic one and 42 francs for a mechanical one. Please note that these keys cannot be copied. Last but not least, mechanical passes are gradually disappearing in favor of magnetic systems.
Flights dating back to fall 2017
The 42-year-old defendant, arrested on May 13, is accused of having, between September 7 and 8, 2017, forced a mailbox in the Eaux-Vives (GE) district, thus recovering the key to an apartment and stole shoes, clothes, a watch and even jewelry for a total value of nearly 4,300 francs.
Furthermore, on October 19, 2017, he allegedly entered a vehicle parked in an underground car park in Croix-de-Rozon (GE) to steal a wallet and a bank card. Added to this is a criminal record including four convictions, between 2013 and 2017. In the criminal order of May 14, the Public Prosecutor’s Office found him guilty. A conviction against which the defendant objected.
