A former employee at kapers, the cabin crew union that represents SWISS International Air Lines, has been arrested on suspicion of embezzlement following an investigation by the Zurich Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The news was first reported by aviation and crew insider site Paddle Your Own Kanoo.
According to the report, the unidentified employee was arrested in February 2023 following months of investigation. The employee was charged with theft on April 11, 2023.
The union’s president, Sandrine Nikolic-Fuss was reported by Paddle Your Own Kanoo to have said that the union first noticed financial “irregularities” after the former employee left office in the summer of 2023.
The union then immediately called in a law firm to carry out an investigation and alerted prosecutors.
Although Investigators have not disclosed the exact figure that was alleged to have been stolen by the former employee, the union believes that the final figure will be a “medium six-digit amount” (500,000 CHF = USD $562,000).
The suspect’s position at kapers union has not been revealed, but Paddle Your Own Kanoo described the former employee as a “cabin crew union chief” in its headline.
kapers Cabin Crew Union was founded in 1971. According to its website, it is the largest representative of cabin crew members employed by air carriers in Switzerland.