The criminal court makes a broad decision on the statute of limitations. Their rationale is interesting.
In an initial decision, the judges at the Swiss Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona did not side with Credit Suisse and the other defendants in the Bulgarian drug case on the statute of limitations, Swiss financial newswire «awp» (German only) reported.
Trial proceedings started Monday over their ostensible connection to the Bulgarian drug mafia, which all of them deny.
In their initial decision, the judges reasserted the validity of the 15 year statute of limitations related to the charges of qualified money laundering, meaning that any evidence collected after 7 February 2007 will be considered in the ongoing trial.
Total Volume - not Profit
The court added that membership or participation in a criminal organization is considered a long-term offence and that the duration of the activity itself is a relevant consideration.
That is a clear setback for the defendants and Credit Suisse who wanted the offences treated separately and judged per se as to whether each exceeded the statute of limitations or not.
They also maintained that the total volume of money laundered was another decisive factor in the case, not the profits gained from them.
Key Suspect Missing
According to Swiss newspaper «NZZ» (German, behind paywall), the trial was missing a key suspect - Ewelin Banew. Although he has been convicted in a number of other countries, he has managed to stay out of the reach of the Swiss legal system.
The court said that it does expect to be in a position to examine him directly in two weeks by video.
