Last month, Spanish daily El Pais claimed that Liechtenstein had become the principal destination for proceeds gained from extortion rackets operated by Eta, and that the jurisdiction's anti-money laundering authorities had agreed to a request from Spanish 'super-judge' Baltasar Garzon to block bank accounts opened there by suspected members of the group.

However, in a statement issued in response to recent media reports on the subject, Liechtenstein's Office of the Public Prosecutor, revealed that no such accounts or assets had been found in Liechtenstein, and that "accordingly, no accounts were blocked or assets seized."

The statement explained that:

"Liechtenstein's reporting office for money laundering, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), forwarded a suspicious activity report by a Liechtenstein trust company to the Office of the Public Prosecutor on 3 August 2006. The Office of the Prosecutor applied for a judicial investigation of a Spanish citizen on suspicion of money laundering under the Liechtenstein Criminal Code (StGB)."

"The Spaniard was the primary beneficiary of a Liechtenstein foundation, which the trust company had established in March 1999 on application of a Swiss bank. Suspicious payments were carried out via the Swiss account of this foundation."

"When the trust company learned in summer 2006 of the arrest of the primary beneficiary of the foundation in Spain on suspicion of participating in extortionate activities by ETA, it immediately submitted a suspicious activity report and participated in clarification of the case."

According to the prosecutor's office, the judicial investigation in Liechtenstein was concluded at the end of 2006, and in January 2007, the Spanish authorities were requested to take over prosecution of the suspect. In the meantime, the Liechtenstein criminal proceedings have been suspended until conclusion of the Spanish proceedings.

The statement ended by revealing that the Liechtenstein authorities notified the Spanish authorities of the case in August 2006, and that Spanish Attorney General Candido Conde-Pumpido Touron had "thanked Liechtenstein Chief Public Prosecutor Robert Wallner for the excellent cooperation on this case" at a personal meeting in October 2007.