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Legal complaint filed over PostBus scandal

Yellow PostBus on mountain bridge
The bright yellow buses carry passengers throughout the Alps Keystone

The Federal Office of Transport has filed a legal complaint to the Attorney General’s office and judicial authorities of Bern canton in connection with the scandal hitting the Swiss PostBus company. 

The complaint for possible breaches of administrative law, fraud and mismanagement is filed against unnamed persons. It is also directed against any parts of the Swiss Post or PostBus companies that might have been involved, the Office said on Wednesday. 

The Federal Office of Transport, an oversight body, discovered that PostBus claimed almost CHF80 million ($85 million) in excessive federal and cantonal subsidies over the past decade by manipulating accounts. 

+ Read more about the Post Bus scandal

Swiss Post, which is the parent company, said in a brief statement that it would cooperate fully with the investigation. 

Federal Office of Transport spokesman Andreas Windlinger told the Swiss News Agency (ATS-SDA) that the complaint had been formulated in a loose way so as it could target all entities within Swiss Post. He said it was up to the Attorney General’s office to establish who was involved or knew about the manipulation of accounts. 

The company is to pay back to the federal government and cantons the entire CHF 78.3 million of subsidies unduly received.

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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR