Swiss under pressure over frozen assets of Russian oligarchs

Magnitsky died in custody in Russia in 2009 after he accused Russian interior ministry officials of colluding in stealing more than $200 million from the state. The case severely strained relations with the US. Keystone / Misha Japaridze

Parliamentarians in the United States and Britain have expressed concern that Switzerland could return frozen Russian assets to close allies of President Vladimir Putin.

The Swiss foreign ministry said on Saturday that it was aware of letters sent to the US and British foreign ministries as well as to the European Union foreign affairs commissioner.

The letters concern Russian assets that were blocked in Switzerland in the early 2010s as part of an investigation into an alleged money laundering scandal exposed by a Russian tax advisor, Sergei Magnitsky.

The Swiss Federal Criminal Court recently ruled that funds could be returned to Russia. The decision, which is not yet final, will be appealed.

+ Read more on the Magnitsky affair

Not on sanctions list

However, the Swiss foreign ministry said none of the three people mentioned in the parliamentarians’ letters are on the current list of persons sanctioned by the EU. Consequently, their assets are not subject to the international sanctions that Switzerland has adopted.

The criminal proceedings are exclusively under the jurisdiction of Swiss courts, the ministry added in written response to the Keystone-SDA news agency. Therefore, all assets remain frozen in Switzerland within the framework of the criminal proceedings, it added.

Last month, the Federal Criminal Court dismissed five plaintiffs who had demanded the return of around CHF16 million ($17.3 million) that had been seized as part of a ten-year investigation into money laundering.

Magnitsky, the lawyer for the Hermitage Capital Management investment fund in Russia, died in custody in 2009. He had uncovered a huge fraud scandal in which the Russian state was deprived of around $230 million.

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland opened an investigation into money laundering in this connection in 2011. About CHF18 million were blocked in accounts in Switzerland at the time.