The Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona has confirmed the right of Egypt to be a plaintiff in the criminal case against members of former President Hosni Mubarak’s entourage for money laundering.
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The Federal Prosecutor’s Office launched criminal proceedings against a dozen people, including Mubarak family members and close associates, for money laundering and organised crime offences following the dictator’s fall from power in February last year.
The move was in parallel to the government’s freezing of SFr410 million ($442 million) in assets held in Switzerland by Mubarak’s entourage.
According to the court’s ruling on Thursday, Egypt had been injured by the alleged corrupt actions committed by Mubarak’s former network of associates and family members. The court said it could not rule out the possibility that an organised criminal network was involved.
Egyptian authorities believe Mubarak’s two sons Alaa and Gamal stashed an estimated $340 million in Swiss bank accounts, with the majority – $300 million – held by Alaa.
The Mubarak family has insisted that money held in Switzerland by the two sons are “legal profits” connected with their work in stock market consulting with clients outside Egypt.
Swiss law only allows for money frozen in its banks to be confiscated and returned after its source has been declared illicit by a court. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office received a formal request from Egypt for mutual legal assistance concerning the restitution of funds last August.
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Egyptian frozen assets case makes headway
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Switzerland is optimistic it can soon conclude a legal assistance procedure, like that with Tunisia, says a top official. It has blocked SFr410 million ($445 million) of assets said to belong to former President Hosni Mubarak and his entourage. The turnout on Monday and Tuesday for Egypt’s landmark parliamentary elections, the first since a popular…
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The People’s Assembly elections in which about 50 million Egyptians, including those living abroad, will cast their vote will be followed by elections to the Shura Council, or upper house. Presidential elections will follow at a date to be set. The polls come 11 months after the start of the revolution in Egypt which ousted…
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Swiss experts met Egyptian officials this week to discuss the process of returning an estimated SFr410 million ($466 million) in assets belonging to 14 people, including former President Hosni Mubarak and members of his close family. Swiss Ambassador to Egypt Dominik Furgler tells swissinfo.ch Egyptian authorities have formally asked Switzerland to investigate whether additional people held…
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Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians demonstrated in the capital, Cairo, and other big cities to protest against the autocratic rule of President Hosni Mubarak. Unruffled by the presence of troops and police, they were resolute in calling for basic human rights.
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