ThoseAnimals in Geneva
Several million have been withdrawn from the Association of the Geneva Spa
Many titles were transferred to a joint account and that of the Foundation, four days before the General Assembly which dismissed the Committee.
The Geneva SPA is at the heart of an unprecedented clans war.
Magali Girardin
- Several million have been transferred from the association to the SGPA Foundation.
- The financial transfers were made without consultation with the General Assembly, which took place four days later.
- This dismissed the current committee. The foundation is concerned about a return from the former director.
A real clan war is open in the Geneva Society Protective of Animals (SGPA). Tuesday, The committee was removed from its functions. However, four days before this general meeting, several million shares and bonds were withdrawn from the association’s accounts and transferred to a joint account and that of the Foundation, learned the “Genève Tribune”.
As a reminder, the SGPA association has a comfortable portfolio. In June, it was made up of approximately 7.3 million, more than 6 million of which relating to bonds and shares. These titles were acquired in very diverse companiessome of which have absolutely nothing to do with the protection of the environment, quite the contrary. For example, Givaudan, Holcim, Nestlé, Geneva Airport or Lonza.
Transfer of 5 million
As of June 30, these titles were still present on the accounts of the association. But on July 10, four days before the general meeting, they were transferred to a joint account and to that of the SGPA Foundationin which several members of the Association Committee sit (now dismissed). The foundation owns the Vailly refuge and other real estate.
According to our information, it would be around 5 million shares and bonds, knowing that the operating budget for a year of the refuge is around 1 million. According to documents that we have been able to consult, the associations of the association now have around 390,000 francs of liquidity.
The ordinary general meeting, held on Tuesday, was therefore not consulted on this huge movement of money. But what do the statutes say? Article 22 only indicates that the Committee is “required to administer the goods belonging to the SGPA”.
Transparency explanations
How does the foundation explain this massive money transfer just before the meeting? Have the resigning members anticipated their dismissal? “It was a question of provisioning for an ongoing project,” explains its president, Gérard Turretini. The account in question is a joint account for future work of the refuge, in which the association and the foundation in equal parts participate. ”
Thus, according to the president of the foundation, the association does not have to obtain the downstream of the general meeting to carry out this type of transfer.
The explanations of the foundation are far from convincing for certain observers. “We do not know the conditions of this joint account. The association did not make a provision for future work, it alienated assets which it has lost control thanks to the Foundation, ”says a member, which has remained anonymous. In addition, among these money transfers, around 1 million francs was moved to the ordinary account of the Foundation, not on the joint account. Which, according to our sources, is similar to a form of “donation without any assignment”.
Finally, some sources believe that the calendar of this transfer raises questions. Especially when you know that no money transfer between the two accounts had been made for several years. It would therefore not be something usual.
Clash between former leaders
This twist is part of a context of clan war. On the one hand, the resigning committee, on the other their opponents, whose former director, dismissed since. In a press release, the SGPA foundation noted its concern on Thursday: “a doubt weighs on the future if the former management team was to return to the maneuver,” said its president, who fears a “hostage taking” of the teams.
For him, the general assembly of Tuesday is akin to “a reversal organized by former executives dismissed and their relatives to take control of the operational exploitation of the Vailly refuge”.
The Foundation fears to see “a team that has been discredited by unacceptable behaviors noted by the press and numerous external and internal testimonies”. The “Genève Tribune” had indeed reported Several testimonies of mistreatment At the start of the year, on animals but also on staff, the director being criticized for his behavior.
The passive foundation?
However, some observers denounce the fact that the Foundation did not react earlier, when the sub-employment and the discomfort within the refuge have been denounced, for several years already. And this, formally.
“Who sought to put the staff under pressure, who complained in several letters in the spring?” The committee dismissed, notes a angry member. Who has ignored the alerts given for many years, opposed financial transparency and on euthanasia? The committee removed. It is not enough to be a member of a Rotary club to manage such an important association. ”
On this subject, the foundation defends itself: if it did not react after the first denunciations of mistreatment in 2020, it was because it was not its role. “The Foundation does not manage the operations of the refuge,” explains Gérard Turretini.
A new extraordinary general assembly of the SGPA Foundation will be held on August 13, during which a new committee will be elected.
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