Switzerland: We are working to recover Egypt's $781m stolen by Mubarak

A senior official at the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs disclosed yesterday that his country is working hard to prevent any assets acquired illegally by corrupt leaders to access its banks’ treasuries; and that strict international action to combat tax evasion would help support this campaign.

Ambassador Valentin Zellweger, director of the International Law Department and Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, said the authorities in his country are already working with their Egyptian counterparts to restore about 700 million Swiss francs ($781.51 million) hidden by former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his aides.

According to the Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office, Switzerland also froze 170 million Swiss francs ($189.8 million) belonging to the former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and his aides.

“There are preventive measures; every ‘politically-exposed person’ goes through an extremely deep examination. In Switzerland, a bank’s board member must give the green light to open an account and it is reviewed every year,” Zellweger told a briefing at the Swiss Press Club.

“There is an arsenal to minimise the risk of money derived from corruption. I think that the system works pretty well. We take care of cases that fall between the cracks.”

Swiss banks are observing their due diligence, Zellweger said.