Switzerland adopted the ‘ Return of Illegal Assets Act’ a couple of years ago, allegedly in an attempt to shake off it somewhat shady image as financial safe haven for dictators. Mubarak is the next batter up. Yesterday his 30 year reign ended. That same day, his funds in Switzerland were frozen based on the RIAA.“The [government] intends in doing so to avoid any risk of embezzlement of Egyptian state property,” a Swiss government statement read. “At the same time, the cabinet calls on responsible authorities in Egypt to comply with the justified demands of the Egyptian people in a quick, credible, participatory and transparent manner.”
Swiss banks have not provided all balance data to the government so the exact amount that Mubarak holds is yet unknown. Speculations about his wealth vary from $ 3 to 70 billion. Apparently, the Mubarak family accumulated the funds of military contracts during the time that Mubarak was an air force officer.
The RIAA envisages that the Swiss government would only have to show that the funds held in Switzerland by an alleged corrupt official are significantly larger than what someone could have credibly earned in office, and that the country from which the funds originate was known to be corrupt. Then the burden of proving that the money came from legal sources would lie with the allegedly corrupt official, rather than the Swiss state. If the official could not prove a legitimate origin of his or her Swiss assets, they would be confiscated by the Swiss state; ultimately the funds would return to Egypt.
According to the World Bank’s Stolen Asset Recovery initiative estimates, the cross-border flow of proceeds from criminal activities, corruption and tax evasion between $1 trillion and $1.6 trillion per year, about half of which come from the developing and transitional economies.
Since 1997, Swiss banks have been publicly accused of accepting money from dictators like Sani Abacha (Nigerian dictator), Mobutu (President of Congo), Lansana Conte (President of Guinea), Gnassingbe Eyadema (President of Togo), Arap Moi (President of Kenya), Omar Bongo (President of Gabon), Obiang Nguema (President of Equitorial Guinea), Blaise Compaore (President of Burkina Faso), Denis Sassou Nguesso (President of Congo-Brazzaville), Eduardo dos Santos (sitting President of Angola), Sadam Hussein (hanged Iraqi President), Jerry Rawling (Ghana’s dictator), Ferdinand Marcos (Philippines), Baby Doc Duvalier (dictator of Haiti), Raul Salinas (Mexico), Hosni Mubarak (Egypt), Yoweri Museveni (President of Uganda), Augusto Pinochet (late Chilean dictator), Muammar Gaddafi (Libya) and Ibrahim Babangida (Nigerian military ruler) without due diligence and without questioning the source of their wealth.
http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/11/news/international/swiss_banks_mubarak/index.htm
http://www.businessinsider.com/mubarak-swiss-bank-2011-2
http://www.thestatesmen.net/news/swiss-return-of-illicit-assets-act-pakistan-can-get-billions-back/
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