The Swiss attorney general’s office has released some $140 million (CHF139 million) in blocked funds to two individuals recently declared innocent in a money laundering trial related to a company owned by Italy’s former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
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The trial concerns a complex scheme involving offshore funds and illegal film rights purchases allegedly run by Berlusconi’s media conglomerate, Mediaset. Last week, a Rome court cleared two people of involvement: Berlusconi’s son, and Mediaset’s Chairman of the Board.
Their funds held in Switzerland were part of a series of accounts blocked by Swiss banks after the Milan prosecutor’s office first sought help with the case in 1996. Overall, Italy sought Switzerland’s legal assistance about 20 times in the case.
The Swiss attorney general’s office also opened a money laundering probe into the affair in 2005. However, it ended in 2011, with most of the charges barred from investigation by statutes and the rest already under inquiry in Italy.
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Swiss release more records in Berlusconi case
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The Federal Prosecutor’s Office, which announced the ruling on Friday, said the judges in Lausanne had rejected appeals from Berlusconi’s lawyers against the Swiss decision to cooperate with the Italian investigation. At issue were documents concerning bank accounts frozen in Switzerland since October 2005 containing more than SFr150 million ($136.16 million). Other bank files have…
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The Federal Court ruled that the Swiss authorities could pass on information concerning bank accounts allegedly used for fictitious and elevated payments of film and television rights by Mediaset, a firm controlled by the former Italian prime minister’s company. The holders of a number of incriminated Swiss accounts had appealed against the transfer of banking…
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The Lausanne-based Swiss Federal Court on Friday threw out three appeals aimed at stopping the transfer of the bank documents. On February 3 the justice authorities agreed to an Italian request for legal assistance in the case of Mediaset, which is being investigated for tax evasion. Three appeals were subsequently lodged against that decision. The…
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The Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed information published by several Italian newspapers about the existence of accounts implicating the Italian prime minister. According to the Italian daily La Repubblica, investigators in Milan have been in contact with their Swiss counterparts to try to track down the people who opened the ten accounts. An 11th…
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