Unlawful procurement of funds - strike against proponents of the LTTE in Switzerland: Coordinated police operation in a number of cantons – 10 persons arrested
Bern, 11.01.2011 - Today, the Swiss Federal Criminal Police (FCP) carried out a nationally coordinated operation directed at Tamil individuals and members of the “Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam” (LTTE). They are accused, amongst other offences, of money laundering and membership of a criminal organisation. In ten cantons a total of 23 premises were searched and 10 individuals arrested. The police operation, led and coordinated by the FCP, was authorised by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and was conducted in close collaboration with the cantonal police forces.
In May 2009, following a request by the FCP, the OAG started a criminal investigation, concerning a number of Tamil persons. They are accused, inter alia, of threatening behaviour (art. 180 SFCC), extortion (art. 156 SFCC), forgery of a document (art. 251 SFCC), money laundering (art. 305bis SFCC), membership of, and aiding and abetting, a criminal organisation (art. 260ter SFCC). The operation was aimed at individual proponents belonging to the LTTE.
During the course of the investigation, the suspicion that, for many years, the accused persons had forced their fellow countrymen of the Tamil diaspora to financially support the LTTE was substantiated. The victims in Switzerland were put under severe pressure, threatened, or subjected to extortion.
For many years, the accused persons, members of the LTTE living in Switzerland, allegedly collected sizeable amounts of money from the Tamil diaspora for the financing of the activities of the LTTE and, in particular, for the procurement of war materials in Sri Lanka. The money was obtained through various methods and involving different companies. The accused persons forced their fellow countrymen to borrow excessive amounts of money and to hand over the funds to the LTTE. The loans were mostly taken out based on falsified salary statements and the loan amounts considerably exceeded the actual financial means of the individual borrowers. Those who refused to help with the raising of funds were threatened and faced the prospect of reprisals. The bulk of the money, totalling several million Swiss francs, was transferred to Sri Lanka, primarily with the help of couriers via third states, or in small amounts through bank transactions. To disguise the true origin of the funds, they were invested in companies with connections to the LTTE conducting legal business.
The LTTE had been fighting for years for independence for the Tamil people. To achieve their aim, they conducted guerrilla and military warfare. In 2006, the EU declared the LTTE to be a terrorist organisation. With the death of their charismatic leader, Vellupillai Phrabakaran in May 2009, official fighting came to an end. To finance their acts of war, the LTTE used the very large diaspora of Tamil people all over the world. In Switzerland, they established a sound an effective pyramid structure to generate funds. The criminal offences, attributed to the accused persons, took place within this structure.
Already in November 2009, in similar proceedings, convictions were secured in France (judgements of the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris).
With the police operation here concluded, the prosecution authorities have successfully struck against those proponents of the LTTE who were responsible for the suspected unlawful procurement of funds within their organisation in Switzerland. The police operation took place in the cantons of Graubünden, Zurich, St. Gallen, Lucerne, Solothurn, Berne, Fribourg, Vaud, Geneva and Basle. 23 premises were searched and the same time 10 persons were arrested.
Notice to the Editors:
As part of this investigation, the prosecution authority is looking for victims or witnesses who have knowledge of the operating methods of some members of the LTTE or similarly acting organisations. A special toll free phone line 0800 10 20 60 has been established for receiving relevant information. This number must only be used for relevant information in the aforementioned proceedings.
We would like to thank the editors already in advance for publishing this notice!
Address for enquiries
Walburga Bur, Media- and Communication Services OAG, T +41 31 324 32 40, Mail info@ba.admin.ch
Publisher
Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland
http://www.ba.admin.ch/
