Swiss investigating more gold imports from Yugoslavia

The government says it is investigating the import of 100 kilogrammes of gold from Yugoslavia on suspicion that it may be linked to the former Yugoslav dictator, Slobodan Milosevic.

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) confirmed on Thursday that it was trying to trace the movement of the gold, valued at SFr1.4 million ($820,000), which was sold in Switzerland in 1999.

Seco is already investigating the import of a separate shipment of 173 kilogrammes of gold, which was imported through Zurich last year. The origin of the metal was subsequently traced back to a mine in Yugoslavia.

That inquiry is in response to claims by the Yugoslav authorities that Milosevic may have transferred an identical quantity of gold out of Yugoslavia between September 21 and November 21 last year.

There are further suspicions that the import may have contravened sanctions imposed against Yugoslavia between June 1999 and October 2000.

The National Bank of Yugoslavia said previously that the former dictator had illegally exported more than 700 kilogrammes of gold.

swissinfo with agencies