With his trust office: SVP-Chiesa is said to have broken the law

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The SVP boss and Ticino Council of States Marco Chiesa (48) leads the trust company Ticiconsult together with the Ticino SVP National Councilor Piero Marchesi (42). Research by the “Tages-Anzeiger” now shows that the company had not been run in accordance with the law for more than a year.

According to the Ticino Trust Act, every trust company in the canton must register a person in the commercial register who is also in the cantonal trust register. A measure that the cantonal parliament introduced in 2009 after scandals surrounding mafia trustees, drug money and money laundering. Failure to comply will result in heavy fines.

14 months without access to the trustee

As the “Tages-Anzeiger” writes, Ticiconsult has been missing a recognized curator for more than a year. Because: Chiesa is an economist with various degrees, Marchesi is an electrician with an Executive Master of Business Administration. In June last year, the only trustee with the necessary registration in the Ticino trust register left the company. Only in August this year did the company change this again, after the cantonal fiduciary supervision agency intervened.

The two politicians issued a statement in the “Tages-Anzeiger” rejecting any improper behavior. They say a lawyer has taken on the role of trustee in their company. Only: A representative of the supervisory authority contradicts this interpretation. A trust company “needs its own qualified trustee on its staff,” he says.

Chiesa feels attacked

Chiesa responded to a request from Blick with a drafted letter. It states that it is sufficient that a lawyer is registered in the commercial register. Lawyers are not subject to the cantonal law on the exercise of fiduciary professions. In the letter, the SVP politician from Ticino also criticizes the article as an attack and derogatory statement shortly before the federal elections.

Chiesa and Marchesi founded Ticiconsult at the end of August 2020 – just five days after Chiesa was elected president of the SVP Switzerland. The two partners list a wide range of fiduciary services as business activities. Research by the newspaper shows that Ticiconsult, among other things, provided the accounting for the Ticino branch of Winterhilfe, of which Chiesa is chairman. The company has also served several times as a return address for the SVP party newspaper “Klartext”.

Remuneration as a party leader through your own company?

Is this how Chiesa is compensated for his role as chairman of the Sünneli party? The assumption is at least obvious. Because: The party leader has not been reimbursed since 2009. Until then, the party chairman received 50,000 francs annually, and since then the president has officially lived on God’s wages. Only the costs will be reimbursed.

One thing is clear: being party chairman is not a job. The responsibility is great, the to-do list is long, the nights are short. That was one of the reasons why Chiesa’s predecessor, current federal councilor Albert Rösti (56), had had enough.

In the Tamedia newspapers, Chiesa said in 2020 that he had always been in favor of the SVP president receiving compensation. Before taking over the party leadership, Chiesa ran a retirement home in the Italian-speaking part of the canton of Graubünden. (oko)

Source:Blick