Attorney General of Switzerland pays official visit to Malaysia

Media statement 

Date : 10.07.2018 

Attorney General of Switzerland pays official visit to Malaysia 

Putrajaya / Bern. The Attorney General of Switzerland, Michael Lauber met his counterpart, Tommy Thomas, today on 10 July 2018 during an official working visit to Malaysia, where the two officials discussed the coordination of the investigation into the 1MDB case. 

Attorney General Michael Lauber and a delegation of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) were received by the recently appointed Attorney General Tommy Thomas  and other officials of the Malaysian Attorney General’s Chambers during a high level meeting in  Putrajaya. Focus of the discussions were on the cooperation between the two prosecution  authorities, in particular with regard to the 1MDB case. The main emphasis in the discussions  during the official work visit was laid on the need to affirm a mutual commitment to the rule of the  law and the resumption of mutual legal assistance between the two jurisdictions. 

Regarding the status of the Swiss criminal proceedings into the 1MDB case, the OAG is able to provide the following general summary: 

Context: 

The OAG is investigating the use of financing obtained by the Malaysian sovereign funds 1MDB  and SRC. The financing was earmarked for investment in economic development projects, in particular the PETROSAUDI, TANJONG / GENTING and ADMIC projects, as well as in an SRC investment project involving natural resources. All or part of the financing obtained is alleged to have been used for other purposes, most particularly for the personal enrichment of the persons involved. 

At this stage of the proceedings, 6 persons are under investigation and two banks are suspected of involvement. The investigation was opened in response to reports from MROS and the analysis of the MROS information carried out by the OAG. 

Criminal proceedings against natural persons: 

On 14 August 2015, the OAG opened proceedings against two former officials at 1MDB and against persons unknown on suspicion of bribery of foreign public officials (Art. 322 septies Swiss Criminal Code, SCC), misconduct in public office (Art. 314 SCC), money laundering (Art. 305bis  SCC) and criminal mismanagement (Art. 158 SCC). 

The investigation was extended in April 2016 to include two former officials from the United  Arab Emirates who had been in charge of Abu Dhabi sovereign funds. They are suspected of  committing fraud (Art. 146 SCC), criminal mismanagement (Art. 158 SCC), misconduct in public  office (Art. 314 SCC), forgery of documents (Art. 251 SCC), bribery of foreign public officials  (Art. 322septies SCC) and money laundering (Art. 305bis SCC). 

In November 2017, further proceedings were opened against two officials of the Petrosaudi group  on suspicion of criminal mismanagement (Art. 158 para. 2 SCC), fraud for commercial gain (Art.  146 para. 1 and 2 SCC), bribery of foreign public officials (Art. 322septies para. 1 SCC), aggravated money laundering (Art. 305bis para. 1 and 2 SCC) and misconduct in public office  (Art. 314 SCC). One of the two suspects is also suspected of document forgery (Art. 251 SCC). 

Mr Najib Razak, the former Prime Minister, is not one of the public officials under accusation. 

Criminal proceedings against legal entities: 

In May 2016, following the decision in enforcement proceedings brought by the Swiss Financial  Market Supervisory Authority FINMA, the OAG opened criminal proceedings against the BSI SA  bank related to suspected deficiencies in the bank’s internal organisation. It is believed that, due  to these deficiencies, the bank was unable to prevent the commission of offences currently under  investigation. 

In a similar manner, in October 2016 the OAG opened an investigation into the Falcon Private  Bank SA on suspicion that, due to organisational deficiencies, it may have permitted the  commission of the offences currently being investigated in the criminal proceedings relating to  1MDB. 

Mutual legal assistance / seizure of assets: 

Given the international dimension of the case, numerous requests for mutual legal assistance  have been sent, most notably to Malaysia, the USA, Luxembourg and Singapore. Switzerland has  itself received requests for mutual legal assistance from a number of foreign states. In connection  with Malaysia, the OAG has requested mutual legal assistance on two occasions from the law  enforcement authorities in Putrajaya. 

After the latest developments in Malaysia, the OAG was very much interested in renewing  dialogue with the competent authorities in Malaysia in order to establish the most efficient form of  cooperation and to ensure good coordination of the criminal investigations between partnering  authorities. The future of this cooperation between Switzerland and Malaysia has been in the  center of the official working visit in Putrajaya on 10 July 2018. 

Finally, with regard to the assets seized, the OAG is unable to provide details of the figures  currently involved. 

As always, the presumption of innocence applies for all parties involved. 

Contact: 

André Marty, Head of Information at the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland;    +41 58 464 32 40; info@ba.admin.ch