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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | December 2007 
Millions Linked to Raul Salinas to Stay Frozen: Swiss Officials
 Associated Press
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| | Raϊl Salinas de Gortari. |
Bellinzona, Switzerland - More than US$130 million (90.3 million) in Swiss bank accounts linked to the brother of former Mexican President Carlos Salinas will stay frozen, Switzerland's highest criminal tribunal said in a ruling published Thursday.
The Federal Criminal Court rejected an appeal by Raul Salinas' wife against an earlier decision by Switzerland's investigating authorities, to keep the money blocked.
Millions in assets connected to Salinas have been frozen in Switzerland since November 1995, when investigators first suspected that the money came from drug traffickers. The amount has grown to US$130.79 million (90.84 million) with interests.
In November 2002, the Swiss ended their investigation and handed over 300 volumes of materials to the Mexican authorities, who believed the funds were not drug money but were diverted to Salinas out of a "secret fund" traditionally available to Mexican presidents, who did not need to account for it.
The ruling published Thursday enables Mexican authorities to confiscate the assets if they present a legal order for confiscation to their Swiss counterparts.
Salinas' wife, Paulina Castanon, in her appeal had argued that keeping the money frozen for 12 years was excessively long and infringed the principle of proportionality, according to the ruling.
But the Federal Criminal Court rejected the appeal referring to the complexity of the case and said the length of the proceedings was not the fault of the federal investigator's office.
It also ordered the Swiss authorities to closely follow the proceedings in Mexico where Raul Salinas still faces charges of illegal enrichment.
Salinas has said that millions of dollars found in bank accounts he controlled overseas were legitimate not the product of money laundering or political payoffs as prosecutors have suggested. |
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