Two Swiss nationals are accused of moving a million francs, 34 million euros and around 830 kilos of gold across borders for at least four years. They are being prosecuted for qualified money laundering by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Confederation (MPC).
The authority is charging the two men, aged 56 and 63, before the Federal Criminal Court, which now has jurisdiction, it said in a press release on Thursday.
As part of a conspiracy network operating at an international level, they are accused of having received assets of criminal origin, notably in the form of money, from people unknown to them, in Italy, Holland and Germany. in cash. These sums were brought to Switzerland between spring 2019 and June 2023.
Caches in cars
According to the prosecution, the defendants transported the money in caches set up in vehicles. Mainly in Italy, they exchanged it for gold which they then transported to Switzerland without declaring it.
After a stopover in Swiss territory, they recrossed the border and transported the assets by plane to Istanbul or Dubai, or by car or truck to Germany and Turkey.
Gain of half a million francs
The assets transported come from large drug trafficking operations in Europe and internationally, informs the MPC. The defendants knew this, or at least considered it as a possibility that they could live with, he notes. They made a profit of around 500,000 francs.
The two men were arrested in June 2023 as part of a joint operation with Italian authorities. As they admit the facts, they are accused in simplified procedure, allowing faster processing of the case.
ats/mera
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