Arab countries come top in money laundering

The Anti Money Laundering Control Authority (FINMA) of the Swiss Federal Office has revealed unprecedented smuggling operations of this crime in Switzerland, which exceeded  CHF 3 billion ($3.19 billion USD)  in 2011, most of which are related to the Arab Spring countries, Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. In its report issued Tuesday which was seen by Arabstoday, FINMA calculated that money laundering had increased by 40 percent in 2011 compared to previous years. The report also recorded a number of suspicious operations related to Egypt, amongst which are 7 transfers which amounted to  CHF 800 million, ($853 million USD)  in addition to 135  other transfers, naming three countries,  Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. The Swiss authorities are now investigating new facts related to officials of the former regime, who have carried out suspicious transfers during the year 2011. The Swiss judicial authorities are now determining the names responsible for these transfers, either the Arabs or foreigners who helped transfer this money into Switzerland. Extensive investigations are now taking place to investigate into their crimes.