A collector accuses Swissmint of fraud

A collector filed a complaint for scam with the public prosecutor of the Confederation against Swissmint, regarding the sale of the Golden Vrelis of the Jubilee. The sale of these parts of 100 francs in a limited edition had turned to chaos.

On July 1, 2500 VRENELIS in gold from the jubilee were put up for sale in the online store of the Swissmint federal currency. But the platform collapsed and many collectors left their hands empty. Even confirmed purchases have been canceled with retroactive effect. A collector’s collector now accuses of fraud and unfair management, reports the Sunday newspaper.

Concretely, Swissmint would have manipulated his online store in a targeted manner, which would have benefited, according to the newspaper, to 27 traders officially favored by Swissmint as well as a few others. They could have bought Vrelis in auction, despite an overloaded website.

Up to 36,000 francs

Many Gold Vrelis of the Jubilee are now offered on the Ricardo sales platform – at selling prices ranging from 10,000 to 36,000 francs.

Questioned by the Keystone-ATS agency, the public prosecutor of the Confederation (MPC) confirmed on Sunday that it has received a criminal complaint in this context. This will be examined according to the usual procedure.

The Parliament’s Finance Delegation (Delfin) also intervened. Its president and national councilor Lars Guggisberg (UDC/BE) confirmed on Sunday that the incident would be discussed during the next session.

The DFF rejects the accusations

Swissmint depends on the Federal Finance Department (DFF) and her head, the president of the Confederation Karin Keller-Sutter. Questioned Sunday by Keystone-ATS, the department is not yet aware of this criminal complaint “.

“The reproaches expressed in the article, according to which the online store was manipulated in a targeted manner, as well as the accusations of fraud and unfair management are serious accusations that we categorically reject. We do not have such clues, ”adds the DFF.

Despite the measures taken, the IT infrastructure was overloaded due to the big crowd. The reason why the website and the Swissmint shop have collapsed is still being analyzed, underlines the department. The design of the sales process will also be examined, for example to find out if an alternative allocation procedure would be preferable to a sale on the online store.

Not the first time

In 2022, similar reproaches had been formulated against Swissmint, this time concerning limited edition platinum parts. “This simply shows that we may not have drawn the conclusions which were the first time made the first time,” said Lars Guggisberg on this subject. It is now necessary first to clarify the reason for the problems encountered during this sale, he believes.

During the online sale of July 1, no special part was purchased by employees of the Federal Finance Administration, said the DFF. During the 2022 sale, four Swissmint employees, including its director, had still had access to it. (ATS)