Breach of trust is a central criminal offense in business criminal law and can be punished with fines and imprisonment. However, it is often disputed whether a breach of trust exists.
The accusation of breach of trust frequently arises in business criminal law. Anyone facing the accusation of breach of trust should not take it lightly, as the consequences can be significant. The range of penalties includes fines and imprisonment of up to five years, explains the law firm MTR Legal Rechtsanwälte, whose lawyers also advise on legal issues related to business criminal law.
The criminal offense of breach of trust is regulated in § 266 StGB. According to this, breach of trust is the misuse of powers over the disposal of another’s assets or a violation of the imposed duty to safeguard another’s asset interests, resulting in a disadvantage to those asset interests. However, in many cases, it is disputed whether there truly is a breach of trust.
This is also shown by a decision of the Federal Court of Justice from January 10, 2023 (Az. 6 StR 133/22). The case before the Federal Court of Justice involved the for years controversial bonus payments and high salaries for leading VW works council members. The Regional Court of Braunschweig had acquitted the responsible VW managers; the Federal Court of Justice has now overturned the acquittals and referred the matter back to the Regional Court.
The proceedings involved fixed salary payments and voluntary bonus payments to released works council members in the years 2011 to 2016, which apparently were significantly above the usual level. Although the Regional Court of Braunschweig had seen the offense of breach of trust in the unusually high payments, the managers responsible for the payments lacked the necessary intent, as they had relied on assessments from internal and external advisors and also encountered an existing compensation system. Therefore, they had mistakenly assumed that their decisions did not violate obligations.
The Federal Court of Justice has now overturned the acquittals. The Regional Court did correctly recognize that the legal prerequisites for the offense of breach of trust could be met. However, the findings of the judgment did not meet the legal presentation requirements. Therefore, it cannot be assessed whether the Regional Court rightfully denied intent, according to the Federal Court of Justice.
MTR Legal Rechtsanwälte provides its clients with experienced lawyers in business criminal law.
