Swiss bank UBS is likely to face criminal proceedings over its business ties with a Malaysian top politician following the filing of a complaint under criminal law by the Bruno Manser Fund, a rainforest advocacy group from Switzerland. The Bruno Manser Fund announced today that it has filed a complaint against UBS with Zurich’s Public Prosecutor over the bank’s ties with Musa Aman, a Malaysian politician who controls logging in Sabah, a Malaysian state in North Borneo. The complaint has been filed on behalf of the Bruno Manser Fund by professor Monika Roth, a lawyer and well-known Swiss compliance expert.
The Bruno Manser Fund accuses UBS of having breached its due diligence duties as defined by the Swiss Criminal Code and calls on Swiss authorities to take criminal action against UBS and those responsible for the bank’s relationship with Musa Aman. The Malaysian politician has been Chief Minister of Sabah since 2003 and is the brother of Malaysia’s Foreign Minister, Anifah Aman. He is being accused of having laundered over USD 90 million of corruption proceeds through a number of bank accounts with UBS in Hong Kong and Zurich. In April 2012, the Swiss Federal Office of Justice confirmed that Switzerland has given legal assistance to Hong Kong authorities over Musa’s ties with UBS.
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