German court gives Swiss tax spy suspended sentence, fine
Frankfurt am Main, (MILLAT ONLINE):A Swiss man who admitted to spying on German tax officials was given a suspended sentence and fined by a German court, in a case that has tested ties between Berlin and Bern.
Daniel Moser, 54, was arrested in the German business capital Frankfurt in April on spying charges after he compiled information on officials tasked by Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia state with uncovering wealth hidden at Swiss banks.
In a plea bargain, Moser admitted to the espionage operation and named his Swiss spy handlers.
He denied acting with criminal intent and said he was driven by “patriotism, love for adventure, profit-seeking motives and indignation”.
As a former policeman, Moser said he merely sought to uncover criminal behaviour on the part of German tax officials as it was a question of “national security”.
Taking his confession into account, the court gave Moser a suspended sentence of one year and 10 months and fined him 40,000 euros ($46,000) — a lighter penalty than the two year suspended sentence and 40,000-euro fine sought by prosecutors.
The absence of a criminal record and the fact that Moser was already in jail for more than six months pending trial were further mitigating factors for the sentence, said the court.