A British millionaire has left Switzerland after burglars broke through a wall at his villa and stole a 200kg safe containing valuables and irreplaceable family heirlooms.
Robert Gibbins, the founder of investment fund Autonomy Capital, has sold his home on Lake Geneva and is moving back to London with his family after 15 years in Switzerland.
The financier, whose wealth is estimated by Swiss newspaper Blick at between 65 million and 70 million Swiss francs (£59 million to £64 million), said the burglary had destroyed his faith in Switzerland’s reputation for safety.
Thieves targeted his property in Founex during the early hours of January 1 — one of the “only days of the year”, he told Le Temps, when the house was unoccupied.
The burglars forced their way inside, demolished an internal wall to extract the safe, then smashed through the main gate as they made their escape.
Mr Gibbins declined to estimate the value of the stolen possessions, which included treasured family heirlooms that could never be replaced.
He said the criminals may have carefully studied the property before carrying out the raid.
The businessman said: “When I tell my friends in Hong Kong or New York what happened to us — a wall knocked down and a 200kg safe ripped out — they tell me they have never heard of anything like it.
Financier Robert Gibbins has sold his home and is returning to London with his family after 15 years in Switzerland
“That is when I realise how much we have normalised the unthinkable here.”
The break-in led Mr Gibbins to speak with neighbours. He said those conversations revealed that almost every household in the surrounding area had suffered a burglary during the previous three or four years.
He also joined a community WhatsApp alert group in the Coppet area, where residents exchanged warnings about prowlers and reported break-ins.
However, it was the response to the raid that ultimately weakened the family’s sense of security.
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According to Mr Gibbins, cantonal police advised residents to install reinforced doors, bulletproof windows or private security.
For him, the idea of living behind high walls and floodlights represented “the antithesis of the open society that makes Switzerland great”. The family therefore sold the villa, withdrew their children from school and moved their professional activities to London.
The decision marked a painful separation from a country that had attracted Mr Gibbins because of its culture of mutual respect.
He built businesses in Switzerland, employed skilled staff and paid substantial taxes, though he declined to reveal the amount.
His two daughters were born and raised in Vaud and developed a Swiss identity of which he said he had always been proud.
The financier warned that Switzerland could lose business founders if families no longer felt safe living there.
He said: “Switzerland is a wonderful place, but it absolutely must take action.”
Mr Gibbins also told Le Temps: “This departure highlights the breakdown of a system.
“By treating these crimes as normal because no one was physically injured, Switzerland risks undermining its most valuable asset.”
Official statistics present a mixed picture. Burglaries and break-ins across Switzerland rose by 1.2 per cent to 46,636 cases in 2025.
In Vaud, burglaries across all categories increased by 8.8 per cent. However, offences targeting homes fell by 8.4 per cent to 2,766 — almost one-third below the 2016 figure.
Home invasions remained uncommon but increased to 11 cases, compared with between one and five each year during the previous decade.
Police said such offences remained exceptional, although they acknowledged that the impact on victims could be traumatic.
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