Bernard Laberty

Bernard Laberty (1886?-1983) was the financial manager of Doxa, best remembered for his arrest in 1950 due to a bribery scandal. He lived to be 96 years old, though he was no longer involved in the watch industry after this.

Bernard Laberty was born about 1886 in Le Locle. He may have been the son of watchmaker Bernard Laberty, who is recorded in the 1883 census of businesses. The younger Laberty was an accountant by trade.

In 1917 Laberty was given power of attorney for Perret et Berthoud of Le Locle, alongside Henri-Edouard Brandt, also an accountant. The pair retained their positions through the [[1919] move of this firm to Geneva, where it would become famous as Universal Genève, but this was terminated in March 1920 as the company ceased administrative functions in Le Locle.

In September 1924 Laberty was offered a similar position at the Doxa Watch Factory of Le Locle. He joined alongside Alcide Matile and served under Jacques-André Nardin, son-in-law of the founder, Georges Ducommun. Laberty joined the board of directors for the newly-incorporated Doxa SA in 1937 following the death of the founder and was made secretary/treasurer of the workers' fund, created in 1944.

His position as power of attorney for Doxa gave Laberty broad say in which wholesalers received the successful firm's products in the post-war boom. Some of these firms saw an opportunity to increase their market share, bribing Laberty with payments of thousands of francs. On February 22, 1950, Bernard Laberty was arrested for bribery and unfair business practices and was incarcerated in La Chaux-de-Fonds. This was a major scandal for the industry and was widely covered at the time.

Doxa and Laberty reached an agreement in March where he admitted his wrongdoing and re-paid some of the money as a penalty. Although some charges were dropped, Laberty was unable to have the case reversed and lost a final appeal in November. He served 2 months in prison and earned a 6 year suspended sentence. In all, Laberty claimed he received just 50,000 francs, though the court estimated the total to be closer to 100,000 francs. Laberty was dismissed from Doxa and its workers' fund in May 1950. Tragically, Doxa general manager Jacques Nardin died of suddenly pneumonia that August, amid the scandal.

Bernard Laberty lived a long live in Le Locle, and was celebrated on his 90th birthday by the town. He died on December 6, 1983.