After six years of investigative work, the Attorney General of Switzerland has imposed a penalty on the former bank BSI amounting to several million francs. It transpires, however, that the verdict is just the next stage in the corruption scandal surrounding Malaysian state fund 1MDB.
There was something else: the Swiss Attorney General was also involved in investigating the corruption scandal surrounding Malaysian state fund 1MDB, which kept authorities and banks around the world in suspense and emerged prominently in Swiss banking.
After a six-year investigation, the authority has now issued a penalty order against the defunct bank BSI, and convicted the bank in the 1MDB scandal of severe violations of money laundering legislation. According to a report from agency «AWP», the Swiss Attorney General also imposed a fine amounting to 4.5 million Swiss francs ($5.1 million).
Focus on Singapore
The investigations have revealed that during the period from August 2010 to June 2014, BSI did not take all the necessary organizational measures to prevent serious money laundering activities. The violations were committed by several employees of the Ticino bank, most notably by two employees in Singapore.
BSI was convicted of money laundering in the corruption affair. In Singapore, the regulator revoked the bank’s license; in Switzerland, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) allowed the bank to be sold to Brazilian BTG Pactual, and later to Zurich private bank EFG International. The sale was completed in 2017. FINMA confiscated profits of 95 billion Swiss francs from BSI.
Next Stop: Bellinzona
However, the affair has not come to an end with the Swiss Attorney General’s penalty order. It was also reported that two subsidiaries of 1MDB acting as civil parties in the criminal investigation have appealed against the verdict.
The Federal Criminal Court must now address the case in Bellinzona, Ticino.
