Major Money Laundering Probe Launched In Switzerland

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

29 March 2002

The Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office revealed on Wednesday that it has launched a major money laundering probe, which has resulted in coordinated raids on business premises and private homes in four cantons.

Speaking to the Swissinfo news service, spokesman for the Federal Prosecutor's Office Hansjurg Mark Wiedmar, said that the raids on properties in Bern, Geneva, Zug, and Zurich were conducted following a request for judicial assistance from the French authorities on March 18.

'They've been leading a criminal investigation because of the suspicion of money laundering and they've been asking us for judicial assistance,' he explained.

The Swiss authorities have revealed that a 'considerable number' of documents have been seized, but pending examination of the evidence, have refused to comment on the identies of those under investigation.

Although there have been no arrests as yet, and no charges have been laid, the news has sparked speculation that the probe could involve Yeslam Binladin, a Swiss based financier and brother of the notorious Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden.

Yeslam Binladen has been a Swiss citizen since 1985, and is not thought to have been involved in his brother's terrorist al-Qaeda network. However, French judicial authorities revealed, earlier this month, that his business activities have been under scrutiny on suspicions of money laundering since December 2001, and his home in Cannes was recently raided by the French police.

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