No Milosevic assets found in Switzerland

So far there is no indication that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and four other indicted war crimes suspects had deposited any assets in Switzerland, police said Friday.

So far there is no indication that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and four other indicted war crimes suspects had deposited any assets in Switzerland, police said Friday.

“Nothing has been reported so far,” said Folco Galli, spokesman for the Federal Police Agency in Berne, more than a week after the Swiss authorities froze possible assets.

Galli said it was difficult to predict whether any such wealth would ever be found and that officials could only wait for people managing any such riches to step forward with the information or face fines and jail terms.

Senior law-enforcement and banking officials say privately they doubt large sums will ever be unearthed.

“First, I don’t know if the man has billions,” said one Swiss official who asked not to be named. “Secondly, I would expect him to be clever enough not to have it here.”
Switzerland blocked any possible assets belonging to the five men last Wednesday as a precautionary measure at the request of the international war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

The tribunal, based in The Hague, asked Switzerland in May for legal assistance in its prosecution of the Yugoslav leaders for alleged atrocities against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

Switzerland has issued arrest warrants for the five at the request of the tribunal. They are wanted on suspicion of crimes against humanity, murder, and deportations.

The other four men are Serbian President Milan Milutinovic, Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic, Yugoslav armed forces chief of staff Dragoljub Ojdanic and Serbian Interior Minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic.

A spokesman for the Yugoslav embassy in Berne said the mission could not say what, if any, private wealth Belgrade leaders might have in Switzerland.

Switzerland’s tight bank secrecy has traditionally made it a magnet for the rich seeking a safe place for money. But the country’s banking watchdog says secretive Swiss banks have mostly learned to shun dubious deposits from foreign strongmen after years of legal wrangling over the seized fortune of former Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos.


Source: Reuters