JHA in Media
Swiss Federal Council Report Concerning Yanukovych Swiss assets is misleading
You can download this press release as a PDF in English or Russian.
On 9 December 2016, the Swiss Federal Council reported that they had decided to extend the freezing of all the assets in Switzerland of President Yanukovych, as well as of other Ukrainian individuals allegedly associated with him. Amongst other things, the report asserted that “assets amounting to approximately CHF 70 million are involved” (without saying precisely to whom this amount might belong).
Joseph Hage Aaronson LLP has written to the Swiss authorities to ask that they withdraw or clarify this statement insofar as it suggests that CHF 70 million of frozen assets are owned by either President Yanukovych or his son, Oleksandr Yanukovych, which is simply not the case. In fact, President Yanukovych and his son contend that they have no bank accounts or money or other assets in Switzerland, other than Oleksandr Yanukovych’s company Mako Trading SA, which has around CHF 1 million in its account in Switzerland; and that account is transparent and audited.
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