Facts
The Federal Office of Justice filed an administrative court appeal against the decision of the High Court of the Canton of Zurich, which had rejected legal assistance to the German Public Prosecutor's Office in Hamburg in a case of suspected money laundering. The case involved cash deposits totaling 57,750 euros into an account at a Zurich bank, which were made in several tranches below the identification threshold of 15,000 euros.
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. It stated that while the splitting of amounts can be a practice known in connection with money laundering, such behavior alone is not sufficient, according to the Federal Supreme Court's case law, to establish a sufficient suspicion of money laundering. In the present case, the request for legal assistance lacked further serious indications that the funds originated from a crime, which would be a prerequisite for money laundering under Swiss law. The mere abstract possibility that the funds could have originated from a crime is not sufficient for this purpose.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court stated that according to its case law, a request for legal assistance on suspicion of money laundering does not necessarily have to mention what the predicate offense is. It is sufficient if suspicious financial transactions are presented. However, legal assistance in accordance with the Convention on Money Laundering requires dual criminality.
In previous cases where the Federal Supreme Court had deemed legal assistance admissible despite the lack of information on the predicate offense, there were significant…