Switzerland refuses cooperation with Russia over fraud probe

Moscow. Image: Mladen Antonov/AFP

Switzerland has unblocked hundreds of hundreds of thousands of dollars belonging to the former head of the financial institution of moscow whom russia accuses of fraud and embezzlement.

The swiss attorney trendy's workplace (oag) said in a assertion on wednesday that it had denied a russian request for mutual judicial help in the case of andrei borodin and had lifted a freeze on his belongings in place given that 2014.
 
The order affected around 20 bank debts inside the rich alpine nation containing round 300 million swiss francs ($310 million, 265 million euros), consistent with swiss public broadcaster srf.
 
An oag spokeswoman showed the file.
 
Borodin, 50, has been facing fraud allegations in russia considering that 2011 when he fled the country to london, where he has considering the fact that been granted asylum.
 
Switzerland's pinnacle prosecution authority additionally opened an research into his activities in july 2011, and agreed in 2014 to a russian request to block his belongings inside the usa.
 
But in 2015, the swiss probe became shuttered and government within the us of a started inspecting the validity of agreeing to offer judicial assistance to russia within the case.
 
"the oag determined in might also 2017 that the russian request for mutual judicial help turned into inadmissable and to unblock the sequestered assets," the workplace stated in its declaration.
 
It harassed though that the selection carried out handiest to borodin's case "and not to the overall cooperation" with russian prosecutors.
 
Russia has additionally in the meantime recently refused to provide complete judicial cooperation to switzerland.
 
The oag ultimate month dropped an research into former russian agriculture minister elena skrynnik for suspected money laundering, citing moscow's "incomplete execution" of the requested judicial assistance in the case.