Hosni Mubarak, Ben Ali, Moammar Gaddafi and Bashir al-Assad have accounts in Switzerland banks that reach one billion Swiss francs, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said, adding that the Swiss government has blocked the assets and repatriation of funds may take several years, according to Reuters.
According to Valentin Zellweger, head of international legislation of the Swiss Foreign Office, the Swiss authorities cooperate with legal authorities in Tunisia and Egypt to expedite repatriation of funds, but this is expected to last several years. “In the past, the issue that has been solved in the fastest time was Abacha file – it took five years to conclude it,” Zellweger said, referring to assets related to former Nigerian dictator Sani Abachi.
Most of the blocked assets, worth 700 million Swiss francs are linked to former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and his entourage. Swiss authorities have blocked another 60 million Swiss francs related to the former president of Tunisia, Ben Ali, and 100 million Swiss francs belonging to the former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. There is another 100 million Swiss francs belonging to Syrian President Bashir al-Assad and his associates.
“The Swiss government has blocked funds that were linked to Ben Ali in January 2011, five days after his departure, and those linked to Mubarak about half an hour after his departure from power,” said Valentin Zellweger, quoted by Reuters.
In recent years, Switzerland has made efforts to improve its image of paradise for illicitly acquired assets, by blocking assets of deposed dictators and agreeing in 2009 to relax the provisions on bank secrecy to help other countries to identify those who try to avoid paying taxes in their home country.
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