ZURICH: Switzerland’s top law enforcer took on 237 new criminal investigations last year, 25 percent more than in 2016, as one of the world’s most secretive financial centers steps up efforts to tackle international crime.
Attorney General Michael Lauber, at a press conference on Friday, said his office was also working on 307 requests for mutual assistance from abroad, after getting nearly 200 new requests in 2017, many for help on complex, cross-border cases involving bribery, money laundering and potential extremism.
While he said his 234-person staff is “nearing its limits” with the present caseload, Lauber encouraged other countries to reach out to Switzerland for assistance as he seeks to undo Switzerland’s reputation as a place to hide illicit money in the country’s famed banks – and return it to its rightful owners.
Lauber’s 40-page report on Friday included details about high-profile cases lawyers were investigating, including more than 100 criminal cases relating to Brazilian oil company Petrobras. So far, that includes one criminal case against a bank in Switzerland.
“It’s possible there will be more,” Lauber said. “We’re doing this diligently, because we know that the people involved as well as the Swiss financial institutions have good lawyers and we don’t want to be beaten on a technicality.”
Of 1 billion Swiss francs ($1.03 billion) frozen by authorities in the Petrobras case, Switzerland has returned 200 million so far to Brazil, but Lauber said that amount will grow.
