A Geneva court has blocked the release of some of CHF7.6 million ($6.2 million) held in a Swiss bank accounts by former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier.
The order came just days before a previous freeze by the Swiss authorities was due to expire, and which would have allowed members of Duvalier's family to begin withdrawing funds from the accounts from June 3.
The request for the order was lodged on behalf of two Haitian individuals, a priest and a taxi driver, who were persecuted under the Duvalier regime. The plaintiffs were trying to have a 1988 US court ruling, which ordered the Duvaliers to pay them US$1.75 million in damages, recognised in Switzerland.
According to the plaintiff's lawyer, Marc Henzelin, the latest court decision affects only one account, held with the Geneva branch of UBS in the name of the "Brouilly Foundation" in Liechtenstein. The Brouilly Foundation is owned by a Panama-based company, which in turn is owned by members of the Duvalier family.
It is believed that another account is held by Duvalier in the Swiss city of Lausanne, but a lack of information has prevented Henzelin from mounting a legal challenge there. The Swiss government has been urged by lawyers acting for the plaintiffs to extend an asset freeze on all Duvalier accounts in Switzerland, and to lift banking secrecy on the details of those accounts.
While the Swiss government has been very reluctant to lift the veil of banking secrecy in such cases, Henzelin told Swissinfo that it has nevertheless been quick to seize assets of ousted dictators in the past. "I think the [Swiss] government has done a lot compared with others," Henzelin said. "Not many countries have seized assets unilaterally like the Swiss in the Marcos, Mobutu, Abacha and Duvalier cases, but [the Swiss government] has not wanted to touch the sacred cow of banking secrecy."
Duvalier and his followers have been accused by Haiti's new government of siphoning off state funds during their reign, but the money in question has been caught up in legal wrangling ever since the Duvalier regime was ousted in 1986.
.
Network Tweets
Network BlogsContent
provided by
|
Archive | Resources | Partners | Site Map | Links | Newsletter Archive | Contact | RSS Feeds | About | Syndication | Advertising & Marketing | Recruitment | Terms & Conditions | Privacy & Cookies
Copyright © 2012 - All Rights Reserved - Tax-News.com
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Tax-News.com has taken reasonable care in sourcing and presenting the information contained on this site, but accepts no responsibility for any financial or other loss or damage that may result from its use. In particular, users of the site are advised to take appropriate professional advice before committing themselves to involvement in offshore jurisdictions, offshore trusts or offshore investments.
Write a comment