Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland requests Malaysia for mutual assistance

Bern, 29.01.2016 - As part of the criminal proceedings opened on 14 August 2015 against two former officials of the Malaysian state-owned fund 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad) and persons unknown on suspicion of bribery of foreign public officials (Art. 322septies Swiss Criminal Code (SCC)), misconduct in public office (Art. 314 SCC), money laundering (Art. 305bis SCC) and criminal mismanagement (Art. 158 SCC), the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has requested the Malaysian authorities for mutual assistance. Cooper-ation between the two countries was already discussed at a meeting in Zurich on 15 Sep-tember 2015 between the Swiss Attorney General and his Malaysian counterpart. This re-quest for mutual assistance now puts the agreement in principle that was reached into concrete terms.

The criminal investigation conducted by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has revealed serious indications that funds have been misappropriated from Malaysian state companies. The monies believed to have been misappropriated would have been earmarked for investment in economic and social development projects in Malaysia. So far four cases involving allegations of criminal conduct and covering the period from 2009 to 2013 have come to light in this connection (relating to Petrosaudi, SRC, Genting/ Tanjong and ADMIC), each involving a systematic course of action carried out by means of complex financial structures.

The sum suspected to have been misappropriated amounts to around USD 4 billion; its intended purpose is the subject of further investigations. So far it has been ascertained that a small portion of the money was transferred to accounts held in Switzerland by various former Malaysian public officials and both former and current public officials from the United Arabic Emirates. To date, however, the Malaysian companies concerned have made no comment on the losses they are believed to have incurred. The object of the request for mutual assistance is therefore to advise the companies and the Malaysian government of the results of the Swiss criminal proceedings, with the aim of finding out whether losses on this scale have been sustained.

The mutual assistance request will be transferred to the respective Malaysian authorities within the coming days.


Address for enquiries

André Marty, Head of Communications, info@ba.admin.ch


Publisher

Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland
http://www.ba.admin.ch/

https://www.admin.ch/content/gov/en/start/dokumentation/medienmitteilungen.msg-id-60510.html