Swiss Locate Funds Linked to Mubarak
February 18, 2011
NYT
By DAVID ROHDE and ARAM ROSTON
Investigators have discovered tens of millions of dollars in Swiss bank accounts belonging to the ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, his family or five prominent associates, officials in Switzerland announced Friday. The officials said the accounts had been frozen, but declined to break down who controlled the vast sums.
“What has been blocked is funds in the area of several dozen million Swiss francs,” said Adrian Sollberger, a spokesman for the Swiss Foreign Ministry. “We are not specifying what their value is or whose money it is.”
Mr. Sollberger said the search for funds would continue.
After Mr. Mubarak’s resignation on Feb. 11, Swiss officials ordered all banks in the country to search for and freeze his assets and those of his family, four former ministers and a wealthy party insider.
Egypt’s new military-led government has asked countries across the Western and Arab world to freeze the assets of the four former ministers, the party insider and their families, American officials said. But it has not asked countries to freeze the assets of Mr. Mubarak and his relatives.
Switzerland is acting on its own against the Mubarak family’s assets, under a new law that allows government officials to freeze accounts belonging to any former leader suspected of corruption. The law was enacted to change the country’s reputation as a haven for illegally acquired money.
Egyptian opposition members said they feared that the country’s military-led government would shield Mr. Mubarak, a former Air Force chief, and his relatives from investigation. A senior official of the National Association for Change, an opposition group led by Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, called for an investigation into the Mubarak family and 200 other officials.
“We don’t want to omit anybody from this regime,” said the official, George Ishak, “from Mubarak himself and his family to the people who are around them.”
The Mubarak associates whose assets are being sought are Rachid Mohamed Rachid, a former minister of investment; Ahmed el-Maghrabi, a former housing minister; Zuhair Garana, a former tourism minister; and Habib el-Adly, a former interior minister. Ahmed Ezz, a steel tycoon and party insider, is also a focus.
On Thursday, an Egyptian prosecutor ordered that all but Mr. Rachid be detained pending trial for corruption. Mr. Rachid, currently in Dubai, denied any wrongdoing in a telephone interview. Mr. Ezz did so this week on Al Arabiya television. The Mubarak family and the other three officials could not be reached for comment.
On Thursday, the United States Treasury Department advised American banks to monitor movements of funds by former senior Egyptian political figures that “could potentially represent misappropriated or diverted state assets, proceeds of bribery or other illegal payments.”
European foreign ministers are scheduled to discuss the issue at a meeting on Sunday and Monday. As of Friday, no reports had emerged that assets belonging to the Mubaraks or the five associates had been frozen in the United States or other countries in Europe.
Egyptian anticorruption groups accused the United States and Europe of moving too cautiously. They warned that the Mubarak family — as well as the former officials — could be moving funds from the United States and Europe to offshore havens where the assets would be hard to recover.
“It will give a chance to these officials involved in the corruption to hide their money even further,” said Omnia Hussien, program director in Egypt for Transparency International, a global anticorruption group. “Action should be taken immediately.”
NYT
By DAVID ROHDE and ARAM ROSTON
Investigators have discovered tens of millions of dollars in Swiss bank accounts belonging to the ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, his family or five prominent associates, officials in Switzerland announced Friday. The officials said the accounts had been frozen, but declined to break down who controlled the vast sums.
“What has been blocked is funds in the area of several dozen million Swiss francs,” said Adrian Sollberger, a spokesman for the Swiss Foreign Ministry. “We are not specifying what their value is or whose money it is.”
Mr. Sollberger said the search for funds would continue.
After Mr. Mubarak’s resignation on Feb. 11, Swiss officials ordered all banks in the country to search for and freeze his assets and those of his family, four former ministers and a wealthy party insider.
Egypt’s new military-led government has asked countries across the Western and Arab world to freeze the assets of the four former ministers, the party insider and their families, American officials said. But it has not asked countries to freeze the assets of Mr. Mubarak and his relatives.
Switzerland is acting on its own against the Mubarak family’s assets, under a new law that allows government officials to freeze accounts belonging to any former leader suspected of corruption. The law was enacted to change the country’s reputation as a haven for illegally acquired money.
Egyptian opposition members said they feared that the country’s military-led government would shield Mr. Mubarak, a former Air Force chief, and his relatives from investigation. A senior official of the National Association for Change, an opposition group led by Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, called for an investigation into the Mubarak family and 200 other officials.
“We don’t want to omit anybody from this regime,” said the official, George Ishak, “from Mubarak himself and his family to the people who are around them.”
The Mubarak associates whose assets are being sought are Rachid Mohamed Rachid, a former minister of investment; Ahmed el-Maghrabi, a former housing minister; Zuhair Garana, a former tourism minister; and Habib el-Adly, a former interior minister. Ahmed Ezz, a steel tycoon and party insider, is also a focus.
On Thursday, an Egyptian prosecutor ordered that all but Mr. Rachid be detained pending trial for corruption. Mr. Rachid, currently in Dubai, denied any wrongdoing in a telephone interview. Mr. Ezz did so this week on Al Arabiya television. The Mubarak family and the other three officials could not be reached for comment.
On Thursday, the United States Treasury Department advised American banks to monitor movements of funds by former senior Egyptian political figures that “could potentially represent misappropriated or diverted state assets, proceeds of bribery or other illegal payments.”
European foreign ministers are scheduled to discuss the issue at a meeting on Sunday and Monday. As of Friday, no reports had emerged that assets belonging to the Mubaraks or the five associates had been frozen in the United States or other countries in Europe.
Egyptian anticorruption groups accused the United States and Europe of moving too cautiously. They warned that the Mubarak family — as well as the former officials — could be moving funds from the United States and Europe to offshore havens where the assets would be hard to recover.
“It will give a chance to these officials involved in the corruption to hide their money even further,” said Omnia Hussien, program director in Egypt for Transparency International, a global anticorruption group. “Action should be taken immediately.”
posted by Hanan Elbadry at 7:24 PM
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