Tag Archives: Law and order

The Novartis offices in Basel, Switzerland. Keystone / Georgios Kefalas Swiss pharma company Novartis will pay $729 million (CHF688 million) to US authorities in an out-of-court settlement over various charges, including that the company bribed doctors to use its drugs. Audrey Strauss, the acting Manhattan US Attorney, said the firm had paid out for “speaking fees, exorbitant meals, and top-shelf alcohol that were nothing more than bribes to get doctors across the...

Congolese demonstrations protest outside Glencore’s headquarters in Zug, Switzerland, in July 2018. © Keystone / Urs Flueeler The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has opened a criminal probe into Swiss-based commodity trader and miner Glencore over alleged corruption in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it mines copper and cobalt. Glencore said in a statement on June 19 that the Swiss criminal investigation was for the multinational’s...

Among the drugs seized were hormones that increased milk production in cows. (© Keystone / Gaetan Bally) More than 200 farmers, many in Switzerland, are suspected of buying illegal medicaments for their livestock from a French blackmarket dealer. Swiss customs uncovered the scam when the veterinarian was stopped at the border with his car full of animal drugs. Swissmedicexternal link, the body that authorises medicaments in Switzerland, has issued 51 penalty notices...

Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world, but motor fuel has grown increasingly scarce in the past year due to US sanctions aimed at ousting President Nicolas Maduro (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Several Swiss companies and banks have found themselves in the line of fire as the United States ramps up pressure on the Venezuelan government. Washington has sanctioned numerous top officials for money laundering and drug...

The Swiss financial regulator took a closer look at cryptocurrency activities last year. (© Keystone / Gaetan Bally) Switzerland’s financial regulator brought charges against eight “initial coin offering” (ICO) blockchain projects for breaching anti-money laundering rules last year. ICOs raise money from the public by selling digital tokens that promise to hold future value for the consumer. The fundraising activity is designed to make it easier for start-ups to...

VW was caught using illegal software to cheat pollution tests in 2015, triggering a global backlash against diesel and numerous court cases around the world that have so far cost the German company €30 billion euros ($33 billion). (Keystone / Julian Stratenschulte) A Zurich commercial court has dismissed claims for damages by a consumer group against the German car firm Volkswagen and Swiss importer Amag, linked to the “Dieselgate” emissions-rigging scandal. In a...

Austria is still investigating massive corruption scandals involving far-right politicians, including Heinz-Christian Strache (Left) and the late Jörg Haider (Right), seen here in 2008. (Keystone) Swiss asset managers are involved in some of Austria’s biggest corruption scandals, according to the SonntagsZeitung newspaper. The paper writes that in ongoing cases involving far-right politicians Jörg Haider, Karl-Heinz Grasser and Heinz-Christian Strache, the trail...

Pascal Jaussi presents the Swiss Space Systems vision in 2013. (Keystone / Sandro Campardo) The company Swiss Space Systems (S3) received financial backing from a fictitious bank as it unsuccessfully fought against bankruptcy, according to media reports. S3, which promised simulated space flights to the public, collapsed in 2017 amid much controversy. The Tages Anzeigerexternal link and 24 Heuresexternal link newspapers reported on Thursday that S3 was given fake...

Operation Car Wash began in March 2014 as an investigation into allegations that executives at Brazil’s state oil company Petrobras had accepted bribes from construction firms in return for awarding them contracts at inflated prices. (Keystone / Antonio Lacerda) Swiss investigators have executed searches at the Geneva offices of commodity traders Vitol and Trafigura at the request of Brazilian federal prosecutors as part of Brazil’s Lava Jato [Car Wash] corruption...

Experts have warned that international cybercrime needs increased cooperation between cross-border law enforcement agencies Two people suspected of illegally obtaining and using the e-banking data of Swiss bank customers have been arrested in the Netherlands. The Swiss Office of the Attorney General says the suspects were arrested near the city of Rotterdam and premises were searched in the coordinated operation between...