Swiss return frozen Aeroflot assets
Switzerland has returned assets worth SFr53 million ($51.7 million) to the Russian airline Aeroflot at the centre of a fraud scandal.
The Federal Justice Office said the funds were transferred following a request for legal assistance by Russia three years ago.
The Russian authorities launched proceedings into the embezzlement of Aeroflot assets by former managers, a Swiss lawyer and Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky in the late 1990s.
All the defendants were tried and found guilty by courts in Russia and Switzerland.
The funds placed on a Swiss bank account were frozen as a result. The sum corresponds to the loss for which the airline was claiming compensation.
Switzerland repeatedly provided legal assistance in the case and started a criminal investigation into money laundering and corporate fraud, according to a statement on Friday by the federal justice office.
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