This is the end of an eight-year judicial investigation. By indictment of September 23, 2024, Pascal Jaussi, the founder of Swiss Space Systems (S3), who wanted to launch minisatellites into space and organize weightless flights, will be tried by the Criminal Court of La Broye.
The case dates back to August 26, 2016. The entrepreneur called the police, claiming to have been the victim of an assault in a forest near Cugy. Found with significant burns next to a burning vehicle, his story quickly aroused the suspicions of investigators, the Public Prosecutor’s Office said in a press release on Tuesday. The latter believes that he intentionally set fire to his vehicle, in which he was traveling.
A web of alleged crimes
This event was the starting point for the investigation. To reach the conclusion that the fire had been staged by Pascal Jaussi, investigators had to look into the defendant and his companies.
After eight years of investigation, the Public Prosecutor’s Office has drawn up a damning list of offences:
- Misappropriation of 4.81 million francs from a loan of 10 million.
- Fraud of a million francs from a relative.
- Concealment of the over-indebtedness of his company S3 Holding (31.6 million overdraft).
- Fictitious increase in the capital of S3 Solutions SA of 30 million dollars.
- Partial embezzlement of a loan of 1.85 million linked to a real estate project.
- Collection of 2.6 million for ZeroG flights never carried out.
An expected trial
The investigation took so long because it was “a voluminous case in terms of the number of offences involved and the documents to be analysed”, explains the press release from the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The investigation notably required requests for mutual legal assistance in eight countries and the analysis of thousands of banking transactions.
Pascal Jaussi, for his part, maintains that he was the victim of an assault and denies the other accusations. He is due to be tried in 2025, notably for misleading the justice system, fraud, breach of trust and disloyal management.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office added that criminal proceedings have also been opened against other people linked to this case. The S3 case had at the time reached the Vaud Council of State, which had granted a loan of 500,000 francs to the S3 company, which was already in financial difficulties.
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