Swiss to drop Egyptian corruption case after 11 years

2011 protests in Egypt led to the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, who died in 2020. Keystone / Khaled El Fiqi

After a decade-long investigation, Swiss prosecutors have shelved an inquiry into various high-ranking Egyptians linked to money laundering and organised crime. Some CHF400 million in frozen funds are to be released.

The investigation dates from 2011 and the aftermath of the Arab Spring uprisings, when the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) launched an inquiry into claims that Swiss banks had been used to hide funds improperly obtained by allies of ousted president Hosni Mubarak.

The “complex and extensive” criminal case initially involved 14 suspects, including Mubarak’s two sons, as well as 28 persons and 45 legal entities. Around CHF600 million was frozen in Swiss bank accounts.

On Wednesday however, the OAG said the investigation had been “unable to substantiate suspicions that would justify the indictment of anyone in Switzerland or any forfeiture of assets”.

No hard evidence

Despite close cooperation with authorities in Egypt, where investigations had also been ongoing, certain information around mutual legal assistance was not received – making it impossible to pinpoint links between the suspects and corrupt activities.

“In the absence of evidence relating to potential offenses committed in particular in Egypt, it is not possible to show that the funds located in Switzerland could be of illegal origin,” the OAG said.

The inquiries into five (unnamed) suspects are thus to be abandoned, and the remaining CHF400 million is to be released and returned to their “beneficial owners”. The rest of the funds were already returned between 2016 and 2018.

While Mubarak’s family welcomed the decision to drop the “flagrantly false allegations”, Swiss NGO umbrella group Alliance Sud said the outcome again showed the impotence of authorities in chasing down illicit funds.

The burden of proof in cases of suspected money laundering should be reversed to make the account holders prove that there is no history of corruption behind the assets, the NGO said on Wednesday.