Switzerland returned 53 million Swiss francs ($52 million) in assets stolen more than a decade ago from state-run Aeroflot, the Swiss Justice Ministry said Friday.
The money was paid into an Aeroflot account in Zurich after Russian prosecutors agreed that the funds should be returned directly to the airline, the ministry said. Those responsible for the fraud have been convicted in Russia, it said without elaborating.
When Russian authorities requested Swiss legal assistance in the case starting in 1999, Switzerland agreed to freeze bank accounts and start its own money laundering and fraud probes, the ministry said. Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court found one of the accused guilty of “abetting qualified misappropriation” in 2008, it said. None of those involved were identified.
(Bloomberg)
