Michael Lauber named federal prosecutor
Michael Lauber has been elected by parliament as the new federal prosecutor for 2012-2015. He received 203 of 206 valid votes and replaces Erwin Beyeler.
Lauber, 45, has been CEO of the Liechtenstein Banking Association since 1994. A lawyer by profession, he became an investigative judge in Switzerland in 1992.
In 1995, he was appointed head of the organised crime department at the Federal Police Office. In 2001, he became head of the Financial Intelligence Unit of Liechtenstein and member of the Moneyval Committee, a European Union anti-money laundering group.
Beyeler failed to win re-election by parliament in July. The rightwing Swiss People’s Party had called for him not to be confirmed for a second term in office, while the Greens officially abstained in the ballot.
Beyeler had come under strong criticism from the People’s Party since his elevation to the post in 2007. The party accused him of covering up a plot to oust former justice minister and People’s Party strongman Christoph Blocher.
More recently, the party accused Beyeler of mishandling a case against Zurich banker Oskar Holenweger, who was acquitted in April of money laundering after an eight-year investigation.
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