NGOs call for Switzerland to return confiscated funds to Malaysia

The Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund and two Malaysian NGOs have handed over a petition to the Swiss government urging it to return CHF104 million ($110 million) of illicit profits to Malaysia which is linked to the 1MDB state-run investment fund corruption scandal.  The NGOs criticise the fact that Switzerland currently has no legal basis to return the looted money to the Malaysian people. They condemn statements made by Finance Minister Ueli Maurer that the money confiscated by Switzerland from the corruption case should therefore be paid into a Swiss federal fund. The 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) sovereign fund is the focus of money-laundering investigations in at least six countries, including Switzerland and the United States.   According to Lukas Straumann of the Bruno Manser Fund, Switzerland must assume its international responsibility and “correct this shocking legal gap”.  On Tuesday, the Swiss House of Representatives is set to examine a motion from Social ...