Swiss freeze Ben Ali assets worth millions of dollars

Wed, 26 Jan 2011

Geneva - The Swiss government has frozen assets worth millions of dollars tied to ousted Tunisian president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, his family and wider entourage, a spokesman said Wednesday.

A precise figure could not be given, Andre Simonazzi said according to the SDA news agency, as the situation was in flux.

The latest move by Berne followed a request for official legal assistance from Tunis in reclaiming assets that might have been diverted by the ousted leader from public coffers to his own pocket.

Tunis has also requested an international arrest warrant for Ben Ali, his wife Leila and other relatives.

Last week, Switzerland said it would block Ben Ali's accounts after the deposed autocrat fled to Saudi Arabia.

According to Swiss National Bank figures, there were 621 million Swiss francs (659 million dollars) of Tunisian assets in the country in 2009, though the central bank could not say to whom exactly they belonged. Switzerland has very strict banking secrecy rules.

At Geneva airport, Swiss guards were keeping an eye on a plane reported to belong to Ben Ali, while further clarifications are made. For now, the aircraft is grounded.

Similarly, authorities are looking at land records, to see if the the former president or anyone in his top entourage own property in Switzerland.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364377,assets-worth-millions-dollars.html.