State police investigators wearing black balaclavas and carrying automatic weapons raided Deutsche Bank’s offices in Moscow Wednesday, reports the Moscow Times. The raid is part of ongoing investigations into fugitive State Duma Deputy Ashot Yegiazaryan‘s involvement in embezzlement of $87 million in Moscva Hotel reconstruction funds. “The bank confirmed the raid but stressed that it was solely connected to a single client and a criminal case into alleged embezzlement during the reconstruction of the Moskva Hotel,” says the paper.
The badly deteriorated original hotel, across the street from the Kremlin, was a massive structure whose design was approved by Joseph Stalin. It was torn down in 2004 and construction was begun of a replica.
Federal authorities nab 11 as part of Europe-wide raids on Spain-based criminal group
Update 16:02 Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss officials say they arrested 11 members of an Eastern European criminal group Monday. Several European governments Monday made simultaneous announcements about arrests in their countries of Georgian and Russian leaders who are members of a European-wide crime ring. The group has been based in Spain, where 24 people were arrested with a well-organized hierarchy: each country has a boss and regional managers. In all, 69 arrests have been made throughout Europe.
The Swiss public prosecutor has been leading the investigation into the group in this country since April 2009. The raids early Monday involved 120 federal and cantonal police as well as border guards. It netted some of the ringleaders, “dealing a serious blow to Georgian organized crime in Europe,” Bern announced in a press release.
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Swiss banks are discussing the possibility of asking some foreign clients to sign forms saying they are in compliance with their countries’ tax laws, Patrick Odier told Swiss German newspaper NZZ. Odier is head of the Swiss Bankers Association. The interview appears in the Sunday edition of NZZ. Odier, a Geneva banker who has headed the bankers’ group since September, says Swiss banks are not interested in “black gold” but in line with Swiss law they are working to find solutions to work with other countries without having an automatic transfer of client information. He also told the newspaper that his association favours a tax on interest earned that would be paid to governments – but from anonymous sources.
Surprise at Italy's actions
Lugano, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Italian tax authorities raided 76 branches of Swiss banks in 22 cities around Italy, 27 October, ostensibly checking to see whether the institutions were in compliance with reporting requirements on bank operations. Federal Counsellor Pascal Couchepin said on national radio that they “were desperate measures” and suggested that the social contract between the Italian government and its citizens was in “bad shape”.
Italians who travel to Switzerland overland have been subjected to unprecedented border checks, with closed circuit cameras and police dogs at the border. The Italian finance and economy minister, Giulio Tremonti, has said that he wants to “dry up” the banks in Ticino, where it is estimated that most Italians have deposited their money.
