Financial Crime World

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Swiss Authorities Launch Criminal Proceedings Against Former Officials at 1MDB and Unknown Persons

Geneva, Switzerland - The Swiss Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has announced that it has launched criminal proceedings against two former officials at 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a Malaysian state-funded investment fund, and unknown persons based on suspicion of:

  • Bribing foreign public officials
  • Misconduct in public office
  • Money laundering
  • Criminal mismanagement

The investigation was extended to the two former officials who were previously in charge of Abu Dhabi sovereign funds. They are suspected of:

  • Fraud
  • Criminal mismanagement
  • Misconduct in public office
  • Document forgery
  • Bribery of foreign public officials
  • Money laundering

OAG Convicts Odebrecht SA and Braskem for Organisational Failure

In a separate case, the OAG convicted Brazilian company Odebrecht SA and its subsidiary Braskem in December 2016 for organisational failure to prevent:

  • Bribery of foreign officials
  • Money laundering

The OAG found that Odebrecht SA had created slush funds throughout the world to pay bribes to government officials, representatives, and political parties in order to obtain business and projects from state-owned companies.

As a result, Odebrecht SA was fined 4.5 million Swiss francs and was obliged to disgorge profits of more than 200 million Swiss francs.

Government Obligations

Under the Swiss Criminal Code (SCC), government agencies and state-owned enterprises are required to employ best practice risk and compliance management systems to meet their compliance obligations and avoid criminal liability in the event of employee misconduct. The SCC does not differentiate between private and public companies, and all organisations must introduce and maintain best practice legal risk management systems and compliance management systems.

Digital Transformation

The Swiss government has established a framework for digital transformation, which covers key statutory and regulatory differences between public sector and private sector risk and compliance management obligations.

Update and Trends

Swiss authorities have seen an increase in criminal investigations against companies and individuals suspected of:

  • Bribery
  • Money laundering
  • Fraud

In 2017, the OAG convicted a former Swiss banker for failing to file mandatory money-laundering reports, and opened a new FIFA-related bribery investigation against the former secretary-general of FIFA and the CEO of a media group.

The major investigative trend is that Swiss and foreign companies in all sectors are now more often targeted by criminal investigations on the basis of suspected organisational failure to prevent:

  • Bribery
  • Money laundering

International cooperation has also been stepped up, notably with Brazil, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States.

Correct as of

The information contained in this article is correct as of [insert date].

Unprocessed Questions ================———

All questions regarding these cases are still pending investigation and cannot be commented on at this time.