In a decision External linkpublished on Wednesday, Switzerland’s top court confirmed an earlier ruling by the Federal Administrative Court. Ivanyushchenko’s Swiss funds and assets were frozen by the Swiss government following the fall of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014.
Switzerland was among the first countries to block the assets of Ukraine’s deposed president, as well around 30 other people in his entourage, shortly after Yanukovych was deposed.
On December 13, 2019External link, the Swiss government decided to extend for one year the preventive freeze on the assets of Yanukovych and his entourage – approximately CHF70 million ($72 million) – to support the judicial cooperation between Switzerland and Ukraine. The assets remain blocked in line with regulations on the freezing and restitution of illegally acquired assets of foreign politically exposed persons, which came into force in 2016.
The Federal Court said on Wednesday that Ivanyushchenko’s assets remain blocked because of criminal proceedings pending in Switzerland and Ukraine against him.
The court said that that conditions for the freeze remain valid, namely that in his country of origin the government had lost power, the level of corruption in Ukraine was high and the assets were probably not obtained legally.
In 2017, Ivanyushchenko had requested that his name be withdrawn from the list of Ukrainians whose assets had been frozen by the Swiss authorities. He referred to the fact that the European Union and Canada had released his frozen funds. However, the Swiss court rejected this argument.
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Swiss move on Ukraine frozen funds claim
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Switzerland says it has complied with a request for legal assistance from Ukraine concerning blocked funds linked to the regime of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych – the first time it has done so.
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Swiss investigate Yanukovych for money laundering
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The foreign ministry said all assets and bank accounts held by Yanukovych and 19 other people of his entourage in Switzerland were blocked. The government wished to take “all measures necessary to avoid the risk of any misappropriation of financial assets of the Ukrainian state,” a statement said. The aim was “to prevent these assets…
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A spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office told Reuters on Sunday that the formal investigations were opened on Thursday after confirmation from the federal police unit responsible with liaising with Swiss banks in cases of suspected money laundering. “The state public prosecutor can only open an investigation when there is a reasonable suspicion of possible punishable…
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The Federal Prosecutor’s Office confirmed on Tuesday the amount of the confiscated funds held in Swiss bank accounts. Two of Yanukovych’s sons as well as former Ukrainian government ministers and their families have been targeted by the measures. The office in March opened five investigations against people suspected of money laundering. A separate probe against…
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Nearly 47,000 victims’ claims have been filed, more than double expectations, and more are being accepted until May 30. Payment is expected by next year – exactly three decades after Swiss authorities first froze Marcos’ hidden deposits. The long wait has compounded problems, according to one post on the Facebook page of the Philippines’ Human…
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.