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Subsidies Too High: Federal Government Files Criminal Charges Against BLS and VBL
The Federal Office for Transportation (BAV) has filed criminal charges against the BLS and the Lucerne Transportation Authority (VBL). They misled the federal government and cantons as customers of public transportation and obtained excessive subsidies. announced the FOT on Tuesday.
The reports against those responsible for the two transport companies were submitted in consultation with the public transport agents of the cantons of Bern and Lucerne. In both cases, fraud is the main offense.
In February it was learned that the BLS had not budgeted for half-fare travel card sales on the Libero network for several years. As a result, the company received overcompensation from the federal government and the cantons for regional passenger transport. The railway company had to repay the BAV 43.6 million francs in grants.
The BAV accuses the VBL of having obtained benefits in the subsidized public transport and not informing the clients. Last Friday, the city of Lucerne presented an external investigation report, which concluded that those responsible for VBL had not behaved correctly in relation to the structure of the farm. Subsequently, the Board of Directors resigned.
As early as 20019, the Lucerne Transport Association (VVL), which ordered the services, claimed 16 million francs. This money was overcompensated by the VBL in the years 2010 to 2017. The VVL also announced that it would file a complaint in coordination with the BAV.
BLS regrets criminal proceedings and promises cooperation
The BLS has shown regret at the criminal complaint filed against it by the Federal Transportation Office (FOT). The external investigation commissioned by the BLS did not contain any evidence of criminally relevant facts, the rail company announced. However, they will support the work of law enforcement authorities.
The BLS will be available to provide information and necessary material in a transparent manner, it announced Tuesday. In February it emerged that the BLS had not budgeted for half-fare travel card sales on the Libero network for several years.
As a result, the company received overcompensation from the federal government and the cantons for regional passenger transport. Subsequently, the BLS promised improvements and commissioned consulting firm PwC to conduct an external investigation.
The BLS released the final report of this investigation on Tuesday. What’s new is realizing that the department in charge of performance estimates seemed to have known about half-rate revenue not included in the calculation since 2013, according to the BLS.
PwC: costs consistently too high
PwC also suspects that BLS has systematically planned too high costs and too low income to reorganize its pension fund. The BLS rejects this accusation “very clearly.” According to the BLS, some of the surpluses generated were contributed to the pension fund. However, this was done with full transparency towards the cantons and the federal government.
The BLS has picked up criticism about inadequate monitoring and control mechanisms and has already initiated the necessary optimization measures, according to the railway company. As announced, the BLS will reimburse the overpayments received to the federal government and the cantons.
The Federal Transportation Office (BAV) filed criminal charges against the BLS and the Lucerne Transportation Authority (VBL) on Tuesday. The FOT announced that they had misled the federal government and the cantons as customers of public transportation and obtained excessive subsidies. In both cases, fraud is the main offense.
(hour / sda)
