The Prosecutor General’s Office of Switzerland arrested the accounts of ex-Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation Yelena Skrynnik in the money laundering case. Skrynnik herself, according to the press, is located in France. If investigators deem it necessary to arrest the suspect, then it is enough for them to get a European arrest warrant – it operates throughout the European Union.
It became known that the Swiss authorities blocked the accounts of Elena Skrynnik in the amount of 60 million Swiss francs (approximately $ 60 million). The ex-minister now resides on the Cote d’Azur in France. From 2007 to 2012, $ 140 million was received in various accounts of Skrynnik in Swiss banks, the origin of which raised serious suspicions.
The Prosecutor General of Switzerland has confirmed the arrest.
“The Office of the Swiss Attorney General confirms the opening of a criminal case in 2013 against the former Russian Minister of Agriculture and other accused people on suspicion of competent money laundering (paragraph 2 of Article 305bis of the Swiss Criminal Code). In this regard, the Prosecutor General’s Office arrested the accounts, ”the press service of the Swiss Prosecutor General said. The amount in the press service did not specify.
Representatives of the Swiss prosecutor general’s office added that they requested assistance from Russia in this matter, but the Russian authorities are in no hurry to share information.
Skrynnik herself gave a comment to news agencies on Wednesday, stating that she “even doesn’t have such money.” “I refute,” she said, adding that she had no idea where such information might have come from.
If Swiss investigators decide on the need to detain a Russian citizen suspected of a crime and residing in France, then they should not have any problems.
Now the legislation of the European Union allows for detention at any point on its territory. “The European Union has a single European arrest warrant, within the framework of which the extradition procedure is greatly simplified. In deciding to create a European arrest warrant, the EU decided that they should act as a quasi-federal state, not paying attention to national borders. And Switzerland follows European law. Thus, a court in one EU country issues an arrest warrant, while a court in another EU silently executes it. This is staggeringly effective compared to traditional international law, which we follow in Russia, ”said Alexey Ispolinov, head of the international law department of the law faculty of Moscow State University.
He explained that Russia would not be able to “kill” such a request if one EU country decided to request the arrest of a Russian citizen in another country. “Their warrant of arrest will be clearly prioritized than our request. That situation with the ex-Minister of Atomic Energy Yevgeny Adamov, who was detained in Switzerland in 2005. Then there was a fear that they might extradite him to the USA, and then Russia asked to give him to us. This request has been granted. But this will not happen again now, we will not be able to interrupt their order.
Our request will be considered in a longer and more complex court order than a request based on a European arrest warrant, ”explained Ispolinov.
The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation asked Switzerland to seize 12 million Swiss francs on the accounts of the former deputy head of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia Alexei Bazhanov, accused of embezzlement of more than 1 billion rubles. This was stated by the head of the main department of international legal cooperation of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Sahak Karapetyan.
During the New Year holidays, ex-Deputy Minister of Agriculture Aleksey Bazhanov, who received his documents in his hands, disappeared abroad.
The decision was signed by the investigator for particularly important cases of the 3rd Division of the Office for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Corruption of the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Lieutenant Colonel of Justice Alexander Gabyshev. According to anonymous operatives, Bazhanov fled abroad. Perhaps in Spain, where at the time of the arrest of the former official were his wife and three young children. In March 2014, he was put on the international wanted list, and in May the Moscow City Court ruled on his absentee arrest. He is charged with the theft of 10 billion rubles. at Rosselkhoz Bank and Svyaz Bank. This money was issued as loans for the purchase of seeds for an oil extraction plant in the Voronezh region, but was transferred to the accounts of organizations controlled by Bazhanov. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Bazhanov is hiding in Switzerland, having a residence permit in this country.
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