Re-posted from Ellen’s Wine World
Astonishing gag order “extremely rare” but will be respected: RTS
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Swiss public television RTS was on the verge of running two news reports Monday evening on unfolding Giroud Vins legal problems when, in a move that RTS describes as “extremely rare”, a Sion court in canton Valais banned the station from broadcasting the shows.
More surprising, according to RTS, “This time, the court accepted the demand by Giroud Vins, even before the show was broadcast, based only on [Giroud’s] claims and without having seen the programmes.” RTS published a report on the firm in late February and the court in Sion ordered that it remove the web version of the news coverage from its site; the media company complied.
Scandal rocks Swiss wine world
The Swiss wine industry has been rattled for months about the scandal involving alleged consumer fraud as well as possible tax investigations related to Giroud Vins in Sion. The winery is accused of selling a cheaper wine under the name of St Saphorin from Lavaux, one of the elite wine-producing areas in canton Vaud. It has been investigated by the federal government for tax fraud. Contrary to what US media often write, tax fraud in Switzlerland is a crime: not a penal crime, but subject to steep fines.
RTS says Monday night that as it is already involved in a Giroud legal action it will respect the new “pré-provisionnelles” (preliminary, preventive measure) court order but will continue to pursue, using all legal means at its disposal, its media responsibility to answer to the public’s right to know. RTS’s earlier programme on the winery, from December 2013, claiming that the multi-million franc affair dates back to investigations in 2010, is still available online.
Tales of taxes not paid, big spending
RTS is not the only media to have reported on the troubles Giroud has faced: Le Temps in October 2013 uncovered a CHF8 million tax fine for which the company could be liable and the possible involvement of a former finance minister from the canton.
Illustré in March 2014 took a look at what lies behind the scandal, outlining the spread of the Giroud empire – the winery is the fourth largest in Valais, Switzerland’s largest wine-producing region. Sponsorships of hockey clubs including Geneva Servette, jazz orchestra, a stable of fighting cows (12,000 fans were at the national final Sunday), and a vineyard that grew in 12 years from 1.5 to 50 hectares, according to the magazine. Projects that require cash.
Where, other wine producers have been asking for a decade, does that kind of money come from?
Valais newspaper Le Nouvelliste has done its own share of digging and in February asked a number of questions that did not pull up clear answers, about why, when the winery was denounced to the cantonal chemist in 2006 and again in 2008, nothing was done about it.