Swiss Post sells off French bus unit at heart of subsidy scandal
Swiss PostBus has withdrawn from France following the subsidies scandal.
CarPostal France
Switzerland’s state-owned postal service has sold its French bus subsidiary at a huge loss. CarPostal France was at the centre of an illegal subsidies scandal that saw it fined in France and a Swiss criminal probe opened into its parent company Swiss PostBus.
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CarPostal France was sold on Tuesday for an undisclosed sum to Keolis group. As a result Swiss Post recorded a loss of CHF19 million and a negative exchange rate impact of CHF14 million, reports Swiss public television RTSExternal link.
In June, the French bus subsidiary was forced to settle an unfair competition case for €6.2 million. This was the result of a financial scam that had serious repercussions in Switzerland.
Swiss PostBus has been found to have pumped millions of illegal subsidies to CarPostal France to allow it to undercut rival companies’ prices and win routes in France. Swiss PostBus hid these payments and in turn claimed large federal and cantonal subsidies in Switzerland.
The scandal led to the departure of the entire PostBus top management, the CEO of SwissPost and several members of the board. Last September, the company agreed to hand back CHF205.3 million to local and federal government.
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Three more under investigation in PostBus fraud scandal
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Criminal proceedings have been opened against three more individuals for their alleged involvement in the PostBus fraud scandal.
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The Federal Office of Police says an investigation has been started against ex-PostBus boss Daniel Landolf and his former head of finances.
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The state-owned PostBus company is threatened with losing bus routes in several regions, following a scandal over illegal subsidies.
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