GENEVA, Switzerland – Swiss prosecutors stated Thursday they’d opened an investigation into a large leak final yr of Credit Suisse account information, which a media probe alleged proved the financial institution held billions in soiled cash.
The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) confirmed media stories that it had acquired a “criminal complaint” within the so-called “Suisse Secrets” case.
“In this connection, the OAG is conducting criminal proceedings on suspicion of economic intelligence, violation of business secrecy and violation of banking secrecy,” it stated in an electronic mail to AFP.
The OAG stated that since financial intelligence was thought-about a political crime, it had sought and been granted authorization from the justice ministry to pursue a felony case.
It didn’t say who had filed the felony grievance, however in accordance with the Swiss investigative news web site Gotham City, it got here from Credit Suisse itself.
When contacted by AFP the financial institution stated it will “not comment on ongoing investigations”.
The leaked information on greater than 18,000 Credit Suisse accounts courting again to the Nineteen Forties have been utilized in a global media investigation revealed in February 2022.
That investigation, which was coordinated by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), stated the info revealed how Switzerland’s second largest financial institution held greater than $8 billion in accounts of criminals, dictators and rights abusers.
Credit Suisse has flatly rejected the “allegations and insinuations” in that probe.
While the media investigation centered on the financial institution’s alleged dealing with of soiled cash, it additionally shone a highlight on Article 47 of Switzerland’s Banking Act, which critics say has weakened media freedom within the nation.
Experts say the 2015 regulation, which made it a felony offence to disclose leaked banking knowledge punishable with as much as 5 years in jail, successfully silences insiders or journalists who might wish to expose wrongdoing inside a Swiss financial institution.
While 48 media corporations from all over the world participated within the Suisse Secrets investigation, no Swiss news media took half as a result of danger of felony prosecution.
The United Nations’ prime professional on freedom of expression, Irene Kahn, wrote to the Swiss authorities final March to voice her considerations in regards to the regulation, and warned in an interview with the Tages-Anzeiger each day that it was “an example of the criminalization of journalism.” — Agence France-Presse
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
