Facts
The case concerns a request for legal assistance from Belgium to Switzerland for the surrender of assets that the Belgian national E.B. had deposited in Switzerland in accounts of A. Inc. E.B. had been convicted in Belgium with legal force for forgery, misappropriation, and money laundering. The Belgian court had determined that E.B. had unlawfully withdrawn around 4.5 million euros from the assets of his company D. between 2001 and 2005 and deposited them in Switzerland in accounts of A. Inc.
The Public Prosecutor's Office of the Canton of Zurich then ordered that a partial amount of around 3.3 million Swiss francs be surrendered for confiscation and a partial amount of around 1.6 million Swiss francs be surrendered for the repayment of a compensation claim of the Belgian state. A. Inc. filed an appeal against this order.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court rejects the appeal of A. Inc. It concludes that compensation claims are not covered by the wording of Art. 74a of the Federal Act on International Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (IMAC). In the opinion of the Federal Supreme Court, there is no legal gap that would need to be closed.
The Federal Supreme Court explains that the surrender of assets for the enforcement of a compensation claim would contradict Swiss enforcement law, as this would grant the foreign state a priority right. A restriction of the surrender to persons without creditors in Switzerland, as…