The tiny European tax haven of Liechtenstein has long been troubled by money laundering allegations, culminating in June this year with the country's inclusion in the Financial Action Task Force's blacklist of nations considered to have poor counter-money laundering controls. Last week saw the publication of the findings of an official enquiry into money laundering allegations published in 1999 by German magazine Der Spiegel, stemming from a German secret service report, which linked Liechtenstein lawyers and bankers with organised Russian crime and Colombian drugs cartels.
The German-instigated allegations have been described as "complete
nonsense" by the Liechtenstein government; yet it has launched
an investigation into the septegenarian Herbert Batliner, one
of the country's top lawyers and a former head of the principality's
most senior court, on the grounds of involvement in a money laundering
case involving Colombian drug money.
The 71-year-old Mr Batliner has made his name setting up offshore companies and anonymous foundations for overseas clients anxious to keep their affairs entirely private. He has a strong network of associates and acquaintances, particulary leading politicians and business personalities in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
Claims that Mr Batliner has been less than discerning in his choice of client have been floating around the German and Swiss media for some weeks now. These claims have pricked the ears of Liechtenstein's new chief prosecutor, Austrian Robert Wallner, who says that Mr Batliner is only under investigation and has not formally been accused of aiding and abetting the passage of dirty money through Liechtenstein. Mr Batliner's office has refused to comment on the allegations
Liechtenstein's decision to launch an investigation into one of its key lawyers is no doubt a direct response to international criticism, although Kurt Spitzer, who was called in to investigate the German allegations, has concluded that Liechtenstein is not a money laundering paradise. He says his investigation has shown that the country is "no different" from other European countries when it comes to white-collar crime. He also noted that most money entering Liechtenstein had already "undergone a prewash" in other countries and this ought to "serve as a reminder to those countries which are now pointing the finger at Liechtenstein."
Mr Spitzer concluded that there was "nothing new" in many of the allegations. Suggestions that there was co-operation between Liechtenstein's banks, politicians, the police and the legal system to encourage money laundering did not have "the slightest claim to credibility", he said. He added that all of the accusations in the German report, with the exception of some of those involving Mr Batliner, were "not proven to be true" and that the only suspicions lay with a trust company possibly involved in Russian organised crime.
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