Information emerging from representatives of the government of Switzerland has revealed that politicians and government officials who steal money from Nigeria and hide it in Swiss banks will soon be exposed. This is as a result of the country’s new laws which frown on anonymous bank accounts.
This revelation was made by the Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Hans-Rudolf Hodel, who spoke exclusively to Sunday Tribune through email enquiry. He declared that henceforth, criminals who used his country as a haven for their illegal wealth would no longer be accommodated.
Hodel gave details of how the fund looted by Abacha was returned to Nigeria as well as how the World Bank participated in the review of the use of the returned looted funds, but did not name the criminal organisation linked to the son of the late Head of State. He noted that the entire $700 million Abacha loots blocked in Swiss bank accounts had been returned to Nigeria.
In a related development, the Swiss government also declared that the son of Nigeria’s late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Abba, still had a case to answer in Geneva for supporting a criminal organisation, despite the return of his late father’s looted $700 million by the government of Switzerland to Nigeria.
Finally, in a revealing development, Hodel states that “Swiss banking secrecy protects the privacy of bank clients, but it is not unlimited. If there are suspicions of criminal activities such as terrorism, organised crime, money laundering or tax fraud, it is lifted and the authorities are given access to banking information. No anonymous accounts exist in Switzerland.”
Source: Tribune
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