Erb (company)

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The Erb Group was a Swiss family company. It went bankrupt in summer 2003 and is the second largest bankruptcy in Swiss history after the Swissair bankruptcy.

history

The company was founded in 1920 by Hugo Erb senior in the form of a small repair shop in Winterthur - Töss . The Erb Group grew steadily until the 1980s and became a big name in the Swiss automotive industry (alongside AMAG and Emil Frey AG ). The Erb Group was also a leader in the construction industry in Switzerland in window, door and kitchen construction (Bruno Piatti AG, EgoKiefer AG ). The Erb Group also took a leading position in the timber trade ( Holzwerkstoff Holding AG ), was the second largest coffee trader in the world ( Volcafe ) and was active in the financial sector (leasing, private banking & foreign exchange trading). The Erb Group employed almost 5,000 people and achieved non-consolidated sales of over 5 billion francs. As a result of the involvement in the Cologne-based Concordia Bau und Boden AG (CBB), the money was visibly withdrawn from the actually flourishing company, until the surprising collapse followed in 2003.

Lawsuits in the amount of CHF 2.4 billion are currently pending against the then Erb CEO and restructuring engineer Hans Ziegler and against the trustees of the individual holding companies in the Erb Group (Unifina Holding AG, Herfina AG, Uniwood Holding AG and Uniinvest Holding) AG).

On March 22, 2012, the former entrepreneur Rolf Erb was sentenced to an unconditional imprisonment of eight years by the District Court of Winterthur for commercial fraud, multiple forgery and multiple damage to creditors through the reduction of assets. Erb and the public prosecutor's office announced an appeal , and on January 15, 2014, the Zurich Higher Court reduced the sentence by one year to seven years. The court ruled that his properties such as Eugensberg Castle in Salenstein in Thurgau, the Wolfensberg Villa in Wülflingen and the Winterthur Töss Center will be foreclosed and, like his collection of classic cars and other assets, will flow into the bankruptcy estate. Erb announced the passing of the judgment to the federal court . On September 16, 2015, the Federal Supreme Court rejected the appeal and upheld the judgment of the Zurich Higher Court.

literature

  • Thomas Buomberger: The inheritance bankruptcy: How the owner family ruined a flourishing company with speculation. Orell Füssli, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-280-06054-0 .
  • Rolf Erb : Hugo Erb 1918-2003. Published by lulu.com (self-published), 2011.

Documentation

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Exemplary": Rolf Erb is supposed to be behind bars for 8 years. In: Schweizer Fernsehen from March 22, 2012
  2. ^ Pia Wertheimer: Rolf Erb sentenced to eight years imprisonment. In: Tages-Anzeiger / Newsnet of March 23, 2012
  3. ↑ Pia Wertheimer: Rolf Erb does not give up. In: Tages-Anzeiger .ch / Newsnet from January 15, 2014
  4. ↑ Thomas Hasler: Rolf Erb has to go to prison for seven years. In: Tages-Anzeiger .ch / Newsnet from September 16, 2015

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