Swiss government freezes assets tied to Venezuela’s Maduro

Federal Council freezes any Swiss assets of Nicolás Maduro Keystone-SDA

Any assets in Switzerland belonging to Venezuelan head of state Nicolás Maduro, who has been arrested by the United States, will be frozen with immediate effect as a precautionary measure. This was decided by the Swiss government on Monday.

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According to a statement from the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), the Swiss government wants to ensure that no assets belonging to Maduro and other people close to him can flow out. Members of the current government of Venezuela are not affected by the freeze, it added.

The freeze is an addition to the sanctions against Venezuela that have been in place since 2018. These already included asset freezes. According to the FDFA, the new freezes are aimed at people who have not yet been sanctioned in Switzerland.

The basis for this step is the Act on the Freezing and Restitution of Illicit Assets held by Foreign Politically Exposed Persons (FIAA). According to the FDFA, the reasons for the loss of power are not decisive for such a freeze. It is also not decisive whether the loss of power was brought about lawfully or in violation of international law.

The decisive factor for the step is the fact that a loss of power has occurred. This means that it is now possible for the country of origin to initiate legal assistance proceedings in relation to the illegally acquired assets in future.

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The freezing should make such proceedings possible in the future. And should it be proven that assets have been acquired unlawfully, Switzerland intends to make them available to the people of Venezuela, the FDFA wrote.

Adapted from German by AI/jdp

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