Swiss Attorney General arrives in Cairo for talks on Mubarak frozen funds

Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber arrived in Cairo Friday for talks on frozen assets in Swiss banks.

He is scheduled to hold a series of meetings with Egyptian officials regarding the retrieval of former president Hosni Mubarak's regime frozen funds.

Initial estimates by the Swiss government said that the total amount of frozen assets in Swiss banks is equal to CHF 650 million, or nearly $698 million (EGP5 billion).

In June 2015, Valentin Zellweger, the director of the taskforce on asset recovery at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), stated that the Swiss government required evidence from an Egyptian court proving that the funds deposited in Swiss banks were obtained through illicit means, whether by corruption, embezzlement or money laundering.

Mubarak and his sons lost an appeal on a conviction for embezzling public funds on Saturday.

In an initial verdict in May 2014, the trio were fined a total of EGP125 million and required to pay an additional EGP21 million to the state.

The Swiss embassy in Cairo issued a statement Wednesday announcing that Lauber will attempt to form channels of cooperation between Egypt and Switzerland to restore the looted public funds.

Source: MENA