What really happened in Loredana’s scam story

What really happened in Loredana’s scam story

Loredana, the most successful rapper in Switzerland, has always publicly denied that it is a scam. Now the investigation shows how he confessed everything in the criminal process, how much he paid to his victim and why the prosecutor got involved in the deal.

Andreas Maurer / CH Media

Loredana is the most successful musician in Switzerland if you measure her success in today’s currency: in clicks. His sixteen videos have been viewed 600 million times on YouTube. Its ten most popular songs have been listened to 300 million times on Spotify.

The recipe for success for the Kosovar from Emmenbrücke, near Lucerne, whose real name is Loridana Aliu Zefi, is simple: the 25-year-old introduces herself on Instagram as a gangster girlfriend and is one of the first women in the countries of speaks German in producing melodious street rap for teenagers. The lyrics tell the modern version of the legend of the dishwasher who becomes a millionaire.

Loredana celebrates the decline of a life of luxury by tossing wads of money and posing in front of fat cars. With this mixture he meets a zeitgeist, especially in Germany, where he is even more successful than in Switzerland.

Outside of the world of social media, her meteoric rise wasn’t noticed until 2019, when her background was published in a lengthy “20 Minuten” online article. Using the pseudonym Petra Z., a 52-year-old woman from Valais recounted how Loredana and her brothers scammed her in 2017 and 2018. The scam was as simple as Loredana’s songs, and just as successful.

Brother 1 gained the confidence of the Valais woman through a chat platform and tricked her into urgently needing 200,000 Swiss francs for an alleged operation. Petra Z. fell in love and loaned her the money.

Brother 2, who introduced himself as Erich, put the Valaisan in contact with Anna Landmann, the alleged illegitimate daughter of defense attorney Valentin Landmann. This woman claimed to be helping her get the money back. But for this they first need advance payments. Petra Z. fell in love with that too.

The starting capital for a career in the bright world

It was only when the Valais woman flipped through a “20 Minuten” newspaper on a train trip and discovered Instagram star Loredana that she became suspicious. He saw the same woman he knew as Anna Landmann. However, Loredana managed to relieve her victim with tens of thousands of francs.

He could make her believe that she worked primarily as a lawyer and only wrote side songs. With his understanding and domineering demeanor, he regained Petra Z’s confidence. He took a total of 432,000 francs from her. It was the seed capital of Loredana’s career and lifestyle.

In June 2018 she made her breakthrough as a rapper with her first single “Sunglasses.” In July 2018, Petra Z. filed a criminal complaint.

A year passed before the police arrested Loredana and ransacked her home. The day after the arrest, “20 Minuten” published the lengthy article. Loredana got into a shit storm that made her even more famous and caused broadcast numbers to skyrocket.

Loredana was now considered a true gangster rapper. At the same time, he presented himself as a victim. In a portrait in “Magazin” in September 2019, she said of Petra Z’s allegations: “I am innocent, presumption of innocence applies.” In an interview with “Weltwoche” in April, he stated: “Much is false. Very much. You can tell relatively quickly if an honest or dishonest person is accusing me. “

This week, the Lucerna prosecutor announced that he had closed the case against Loredana. The rapper made up for the damage with a payment that exceeded 432,000 francs. Most of the newspapers only printed short reports about it.

The whole story is not yet told. It’s in the twelve-page suspension order that this newspaper has. The document shows how much money Loredana paid, what the criminal case was like, and why the prosecutor got involved in the deal.

Loredana’s game with the presumption of innocence

Already in the first interview, Loredana confirmed the basic characteristics of Petra Z. At first she tried to portray her brother as the main culprit. But when he realized that this was not credible, he fully acknowledged the act.

So he followed a double strategy: in public he emphasized his innocence and portrayed Petra Z. as a liar, while apologizing to her in criminal proceedings. She is aware of the injustice of her actions and takes responsibility for it, says in the dismissal order.

And now the money: Loredana pays her victim 609,000 francs as reparation and compensation to her lawyer. It does more than harm than can be proven. So she also pays for much of Brother 1’s scam, although she cannot be charged with anything under criminal law.

The Valais prosecution did not take the process against him out of hand because the victim was seduced by him too credulously. Loredana, on the other hand, was tougher. It has exerted “great psychological pressure.”

The chief prosecutor, Adrian Berlinger, writes in the order that a hypothetical sentence “of no more than two years” seems appropriate. Take on business fraud. At first glance, the amount of the crime seems high, but compared to other business frauds, it only classifies the crime as moderate.

The victim’s “inexperienced” behavior is also a relief. According to the ruling, Petra Z. even transferred more payments to Loredana after the Valais canton police warned her about it.

The prosecutor also approves of the fact that Loredana has shown remorse and understanding to the police authorities from the beginning. Therefore, the conditions for a conditional statement are met. Loredana wouldn’t have had to go to prison anyway, as long as she hadn’t relapsed.

The prosecutor believes that the criminal process will likely prevent Loredana from committing more crimes. Meanwhile, his financial situation has also “stabilized significantly”. However, Loredana pays for the repair “in no way with shipping costs, so to speak.” The 609,000 francs would represent a “massive financial cut” for them.

The repair is equivalent to 150 million flows

Spotify pays around 4,000 francs for a million plays. So the repair is roughly equivalent to the revenue of 150 million streams. Loredana achieves it with her three hits “Eiskalt”, “Neck” and “Not won”.

What is not in the hiring decree: Business fraud is a cataloged crime of the deportation initiative. If convicted, the Kosovar should have been sent back to Kosovo, unless there is a case of personal hardship. Since Loredana has a son and a family in Lucerne and also raps in German, she would have had a good chance of getting by as a hardship. But this question no longer arises.

The joke of the outcome of the process is: Contrary to what is publicly stated, Loredana has admitted her guilt for a long time. And yet she is now officially considered innocent. Although she also has to pay the 13,000 francs for the procedure because she is responsible for it, the hiring is legally acquittal.

The imaging strategy works perfectly. Loredana is still a rapper with a gangster attitude, but she can still be marketed by big companies because she has no criminal record.

Loredana’s second album, “Medusa”, will be released in December. In the intro, he raps: “I did it, people are talking about me again. 500 million streams, what is there to discuss? The whole country against me, but I win the Swiss prize. The greatest artist in the country, but still without a passport, hey. “