Switzerland won’t return 1MDB profits to Malaysia
Switzerland’s parliament rejected a bid to amend the law handling ill-gotten bank profits seized by authorities that had aimed to return funds linked to scandal-hit sovereign fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB, to Malaysia, Reuters reported.
At the request of the government, parliamentarians in the House of Representatives rejected a proposal led by center-left politician Carlo Sommaruga, the Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund, and two Malaysian non-governmental organisations. They had urged the Swiss authorities to return to the Malaysian people $110 million of illicit profits linked to the 1MDB investment fund corruption scandal.
The NGOs had criticised the fact that Switzerland currently has no legal basis to return the looted money, so the parliament had to take on the case.
The 1MDB sovereign fund is the focus of money-laundering investigations in at least six countries, including Switzerland, Singapore and the US. A total of $4.5 billion was allegedly misappropriated by high-level officials of the fund and their associates, according to civil lawsuits filed by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Swiss financial watchdog Finma has confiscated the illicit profits from 1MDB-related deals made by banks BSI, Falcon Private Bank and Coutts & Co since mid-2016. The BSI and Falcon cases are still under appeal.
Switzerland’s parliament rejected a bid to amend the law handling ill-gotten bank profits seized by authorities that had aimed to return funds linked to scandal-hit sovereign fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB, to Malaysia, Reuters reported. At the request of the government, parliamentarians in the House of Representatives rejected a proposal led by center-left politician Carlo Sommaruga, the Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund, and two Malaysian non-governmental organisations. They had urged the Swiss authorities to return to the Malaysian people $110 million of illicit profits linked to the 1MDB investment fund corruption scandal. The NGOs had criticised the fact that Switzerland...
Switzerland’s parliament rejected a bid to amend the law handling ill-gotten bank profits seized by authorities that had aimed to return funds linked to scandal-hit sovereign fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB, to Malaysia, Reuters reported.
At the request of the government, parliamentarians in the House of Representatives rejected a proposal led by center-left politician Carlo Sommaruga, the Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund, and two Malaysian non-governmental organisations. They had urged the Swiss authorities to return to the Malaysian people $110 million of illicit profits linked to the 1MDB investment fund corruption scandal.
The NGOs had criticised the fact that Switzerland currently has no legal basis to return the looted money, so the parliament had to take on the case.
The 1MDB sovereign fund is the focus of money-laundering investigations in at least six countries, including Switzerland, Singapore and the US. A total of $4.5 billion was allegedly misappropriated by high-level officials of the fund and their associates, according to civil lawsuits filed by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Swiss financial watchdog Finma has confiscated the illicit profits from 1MDB-related deals made by banks BSI, Falcon Private Bank and Coutts & Co since mid-2016. The BSI and Falcon cases are still under appeal.
