Did Bellasi act alone?

The Federal Prosecutor’s Office said Friday that the key priority of its investigation into the Bellasi case was to find out whether the now arrested intelligence officer had acted alone in stealing millions of Swiss francs in defence ministry funds.

The Federal Prosecutor’s Office said Friday that the key priority of its investigation into the Bellasi case was to find out whether the now arrested intelligence officer and defence ministry accountant had acted alone in siphoning off millions of Swiss francs in defence ministry funds.

Deputy Federal Prosecutor Felix Bänziger, speaking at a news conference in Berne, described the case as very serious for the Swiss armed forces.

But he added that it was still unclear whether Dino Bellasi was part of a wider conspiracy, and that it was still very much a case of word against word.

“We do simply not have enough evidence one way or another,” Bänziger said.

Bellasi claims that he did not steal SFr8.65 million ($5.8 million) to enrich himself but to set up a secret intelligence unit, as ordered by intelligence chief Peter Regli.

Regli — who has been suspended along with several other leading officials in the intelligence unit — has denied the accusations and described the allegations as lies.

What started out as a fraud case turned into an intelligence scandal a few days ago when the authorities discovered an arms cache set up by Bellasi.

At the news conference, prosecutors displayed some of the weapons seized. The find included Swiss army rifles, Uzis, pump-action shotguns, sniper-style rifles and many rounds of ammunition.

Some of those weapons can only be bought by special permit in Switzerland.

The prosecutor’s office said that about 220 weapons had been confiscated overall, including a gun which Bellasi carried when he was arrested by police over two weeks ago.

An independent parliamentary committee has launched an investigation into the case, which has rocked the defence ministry and put significant pressure on Defence Minister Adolf Ogi.

Ogi has pledged to get to the bottom of the scandal and to open up the workings of the military’s intelligence unit – possibly by setting up an Internet site.

From staff and wire reports.