Truth Or Tale: Have Foreign Leaders Hidden Money In Swiss Banks? - SWI Swissinfo.Ch

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) The trail of“dirty money” in the possession of corrupt public officials has long led to Switzerland's financial centre. It's one that the government has tried to clean up. This content was published on September 19, 2025 - 09:00 2 minutes

Reporter specialised in Swiss foreign affairs, with a side hustle as a sub-editor in the English Department. Previously my focus was on disinformation and fact-checks, which I still produce occasionally.

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My work focuses on engaging with you, our audience, and strengthening trust in our journalism. I develop engagement tools such as multilingual debates and help distribute our content to users across platforms. A former nurse, I later pursued English linguistics and media studies where I developed a keen interest in journalism and news in the digital age.

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Popular uprisings, leaked documents and collaborative media investigations: in recent decades, all of these have led to the discovery of suspicious Swiss bank accounts.

In 2011, for example, as protestors across the Arab world rose up against authoritarian regimes, Switzerland quickly froze hundreds of millions of francs in accounts linked to then-embattled leaders including Bashar al-Assad (Syria) and Muammar al-Gaddafi (Libya).

From Haiti and Peru in Latin America to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia, by way of Angola and Mali in Africa, several other foreign officials are suspected of having transferred funds stolen from the state to Swiss banks.

In 2022, following revelations from the #SuisseSecrets media investigation, Swissinfo highlighted some of the most notorious cases of kleptocracy touching Swiss soil:

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This content was published on Jun 2, 2022 From Marcos to Yanukovych via Mubarak, a rogues' gallery of former leaders who have stashed their stolen cash in Switzerland.

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Switzerland has reacted to similar disclosures by putting several measures in place to prevent money laundering and illicit financial flows. In 2016, it introduced a new law to help repatriate stolen funds to their countries of origin.

But all of this is easier said than done. Prosecutors must be able to prove in a court of law that the funds in question were illicitly obtained before they can be restituted to the people. Ideally, state structures must also be in place in the country of origin to receive and redistribute this money transparently.

Swissinfo took a look at some of the progress Switzerland has made in asset recovery, including involving civil society to decide how the money will be spent to benefit those who most need it. But challenges remain.

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This content was published on Sep 11, 2025 The tough task of uncovering illicit finance held by corrupt officials and returning stolen assets is being complicated by slow progress and waning US leadership.

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Edited by Tony Barrett/vm/ac

More Debate Hosted by: Geraldine Wong Sak Hoi Have you heard something about Swiss diplomacy that you'd like us to fact check?

Not all information circulating about Switzerland's foreign relations is accurate or well understood. Tell us what you'd like us to fact check or clarify.

Join the discuss Dec 18, 2024 14 Likes 14 Comments View the discu

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