Oil-for-Food: Convictions and Seizure of Money in Switzerland
Bern, 18.03.2008 - The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has successfully concluded its investigations into the United Nations oil-for-food scandal. Thanks to fruitful cooperation with the cantons, over CHF 17 million has been successfully seized in Switzerland so far.
This represents an exceptionally good result for the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland by international comparison. Switzerland is among the first countries to obtain convictions and/or to seize monies in connection with the oil-for-food scandal. Not least due to good cooperation with the cantons, CHF 17 million has been seized in Switzerland to date. Around CHF 10 million has flowed into federal coffers, the remainder going to the cantons involved.
The investigations focused on three dozen companies based in Switzerland that were mentioned in the Report by the UN Independent Inquiry Committee of 27 October 2005 (the Volcker Report). According to this report, these companies allegedly made illegal payments in connection with oil purchases or supplied humanitarian goods to Iraq at prices suspected of being excessive.
Around 85 per cent of the cases dealt with by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland have been concluded. One case is currently subject to a preliminary investigation by the Federal Examining Magistrate's Office. The majority of the oil-for-food cases that have been dealt with have been dismissed, although in some of these cases the parties involved were required to pay costs and assets were seized. In eight cases, the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland concluded its investigations by referring the matter to cantonal prosecution authorities for a decision to be taken, as the rules of federal criminal procedure do not permit an accelerated summary penalty procedure. The authorities concerned here are those in the cantons of Basel Stadt, Geneva and Vaud. All these cases have led to convictions that have now taken full legal effect. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, SECO, conducted three administrative criminal proceedings, all of which were eventually discontinued.
The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland currently has six cases pending. Investigations are continuing in part because mutual assistance requested from other countries has not been provided yet. It is expected that more cases will be referred to the cantonal prosecution authorities.
The findings of the Volcker Report were the impetus for the investigations in Switzerland, but did not satisfy the procedural requirements. The report itself provided sufficient evidence in only a few cases. The gathering of evidence abroad was essential, but at the same time was the main obstacle to progress. Often it was not possible to obtain important evidence relating to the offences under investigation by means of mutual assistance requests; in some cases, countries vital to the investigation failed to cooperate, in others the poor quality of the documents made them unsuitable as evidence.
The identity of the companies listed in the Volcker Report that were or still are the specific target of criminal investigations by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland will not be disclosed.
Address for enquiries
Jeannette Balmer, Spokeswoman OAG, Tel. +41 (0)31 324 32 40
Publisher
Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland
http://www.ba.admin.ch/
