Facts
The Federal Supreme Court decides on an administrative court appeal against a final decision of the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office, by which it partially complied with a request for legal assistance from the Russian Federation. The appellants are the account holders whose documents are to be disclosed to the requesting authority.
The request for legal assistance from the Russian Federation concerns criminal proceedings against [X.] and [Y.] , who are accused of having caused substantial financial damage to the Russian company [D.] through fraud and breach of trust. The investigation has revealed that companies belonging to the [D.] group sold and chartered ships to a company [C.] , which is controlled by appellant 1, under unfavorable conditions. Furthermore, tankers of the company [D.] were chartered to other companies of appellant 1 at prices significantly below market value. Appellant 1 and [Y.] are also suspected of having laundered the proceeds from these transactions.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court examines whether the Federal Prosecutor's Office was right to order the disclosure of documents relating to the appellants' accounts. It concludes that the statement of facts in the request for legal assistance meets the requirements of Art. 14 IMAC and Art. 28 IRAL, and that the requirement of…