The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission (based in the United States – ed.), Made a statement in which it sharply criticized Switzerland as an aide to dictator Vladimir Putin in hiding the loot,
KYIV. UkraineGate , 7 , May , 2022 | Economy.
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“Long known as a place where war criminals and kleptocrats hide loot, Switzerland is one of the leading aides to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and his entourage. By looting Russia, Putin and his oligarchs are using Swiss banking secrecy laws in a statement by the Commission.
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Swiss anti-corruption expert Mark Pitt testified to this influential US government commission. He said Swiss lawyers could indeed help Russian oligarchs hide traces of their money without violating their country’s laws.
Mark Pitt, a journalist with the Center for the Study of Corruption and Organized Crime (OCCRP) Miranda Patrucic, and Bill Browder, a financier and investor who accuses Swiss prosecutors of failing to investigate a money laundering investigation, spoke online at the Commission’s hearing on Thursday, May 5. Russia, associated with the death of Sergei Magnitsky.
Pete told the Commission that lawyers were using Swiss legal loopholes to thwart efforts to track Russian assets. Here is what he said literally:
“We know that Switzerland is a small country. At the same time, it is the location of a significant financial industry, being perhaps the world’s largest center of trade in commodities. It has a long tradition of banking secrecy. In short, it is one of the largest offshore harbors in the world. I am particularly interested in the role of organizers and assistants, often lawyers who are covered by the principle of legal secrecy. There is nothing wrong with acting like ordinary lawyers defending the interests of their clients. On the other hand, it is no less obvious that lawyers who invest their clients’ money no longer act as lawyers, but as financial operators. “
“Putin and his oligarchs have corrupted the Swiss judiciary,” he said.
According to Pete, leaks of confidential information have shown that there is a whole intermediary sector in Switzerland, ie people who, without directly touching money, participate in the creation of structures for money laundering (fictitious companies, offshore accounts, etc.). Swiss anti-money laundering legislation does not apply to them. And yet they are in fact helping to hide the funds of, for example, Russian oligarchs, as shown by all these sources.
There are structures that prevent banks and the government from identifying the beneficial owners of the assets. In other words, they are a real danger to the successful functioning of the sanctions regime imposed on Russia. In Switzerland, in March 2021, under pressure from industry lobbyists, parliament refused to formally subject these intermediaries to legislation governing anti-money laundering and anti-money laundering procedures. Of course, the Swiss authorities will intervene if there is clear evidence of violations of the sanctions regime and money laundering, but, according to the article swissinfo.ch, law enforcement agencies may be incompetent and sometimes biased.
Swiss media have already reported that public accusations by the Helsinki Commission have caused outright confusion in the Swiss government.
Helsinki Commission
The Commission for Security and Cooperation in Europe (The External Reference) was established in 1976 to protect human rights around the world and to ensure that this goal is found in US foreign policy doctrinal documents.
The commission, which includes both Republicans and Democrats, describes itself as an independent U.S. government commission that supports American national security and national interests by promoting human rights, military security, and economic cooperation in 57 countries. “
It arose from the 1975 Helsinki Accords, which established the military and territorial conditions for the peaceful coexistence of West and East and described mechanisms for resolving disputes between the Soviet Union and the West during the Cold War. The unofficial name (Helsinki Commission) is connected with the Helsinki Process.
Source: Ukrgate
