Ludwig A. Minelli, a former journalist and lawyer, has been under the spotlight here and abroad since 1998, when he founded the Zurich-based clinic. The magazine, Beobachter, alleged that tax records have shown that Minelli had no taxable personal fortune registered when he founded the clinic, but by 2007 had amassed a personal fortune of $1.8 million.
The significance of the allegation is that assisted suicide is legal under Swiss law only if the helper is not acting out of "selfish motivations."
Chris Ison, PA
A Swiss magazine is alleging that Dignitas founder Ludwig A. Minelli's clinic, which helps terminally ill people meet a "dignified death," is making a profit.
In its investigation, titled "Unexplained Wealth," Beobachter said that Minelli had justified wealth increases from 2001 to 2004, saying they stemmed from an inheritance left by his mother. But he offered no explanation for other years.
The fee charged to those who want to die at Dignitas has risen over time, reaching $6,800 today compared with $2,700 in 2005, the magazine said, speculating that the price hike might be a sign that the clinic is trying to make a profit from the deaths.
Andreas Brunner, a leading Swiss prosecutor, said Dignitas has refused to make public its financial records of the last five years, citing privacy concerns. "To this day, we have no access to the records of Dignitas," Beobachter quoted Brunner as saying.
The magazine said Minelli did once allow insight into the clinic's bookkeeping some years ago, but other progress has since been "delayed."
Calls to a number published on Dignitas' website went unanswered Thursday, and Minelli is known to be reticent with the press.
However, a statement on the group's website says that two prosecutors in the canton of Zurich were granted access to all records and could verify that "all inputs have been correctly recorded." The note does not mention when that audit allegedly occurred. Dignitas also stated that an external trust company is charged with verifying its bookkeeping. Reports detailing the group's activities and financials are only published online until 2004.
Dignitas, whose slogan is "Live with dignity, die with dignity," received unwanted publicity in April, when about 40 unlabeled urns containing human ashes were recovered from the muddy bed of Lake Zurich. The find fueled charges that Dignitas was disposing of its charges' remains in a less-than-dignified way.
The group, which since its foundation helped at least 1,041 people die, has been accused of tarnishing Switzerland's image by promoting so-called "death tourism," since many foreigners -- most of them suffering from terminal conditions -- have traveled to Zurich to legally commit suicide. Because of neighbors' protests, the group has often been forced to move its death sites, which have included hotel rooms, cars and Minelli's own house.
