Bernardo F. laundered $ 60 million, but escaped from prison. The Swiss-Brazilian is a central figure in the vast corruption case involving the Brazilian state oil company Petrobras. The man lives in Cologny (GE). For years, this wealth manager has repatriated tens of millions of bribes to Switzerland. Then he deposited this money in Swiss bank accounts belonging to two Brazilian employees of Petrobras.
We obtained the indictment from the Federal Prosecutor’s Office (MPC). Bernardo F. recognized his wrongs. It is thanks to this that this man who had previously had a clean criminal record avoids an exemplary sanction. The man also cooperated with the justice system. His information helped advance the investigation, writes the MPC. In exchange, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office proposes a reduced sentence. The Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona (TI) will assess the deal at the end of February.
The binational wealth manager managed 21 Swiss bank accounts. Most were registered with the names of offshore companies. Also according to the indictment, the accounts were housed in eight banks in Geneva and Lugano. Affected are Julius Baer, PKB, HSBC, Syz, Pictet, Safra Sarasin, Deutsche Bank and Bank Cramer.
The financial damage is high. Money laundering, $ 60 million. Corruption, 35 million. In return, the MPC offers a suspended sentence of 16 months. In addition, the convict must pay the state compensation of $ 1.6 million, which corresponds to the amount of funds sequestered on the day of his arrest. The amount is far less than the $ 2.4 million in commissions the launderer received.
The double role of Christian Lüscher
The indictment reveals that Bernardo F. is defended by Christian Lüscher. Amazing. The Geneva lawyer is also elected in Bern. The PLR national councilor was heavily involved in parliament to support the re-election of Michael Lauber, the MPC’s attorney general, who was then highly compromised. “Be reasonable and protect the institutions,” said the Genevese to his parliamentary colleagues. Meanwhile, Michael Lauber’s services were completing their investigation into Bernardo F. The indictment was released two weeks after the attorney general’s re-election.
This mixture of genres challenges. Did Christian Lüscher hope that his parliamentary interventions in favor of the Attorney General would one day benefit from his work as a lawyer in the Petrobras case? When contacted, the applicant replied: “There is absolutely no link between my plea for the re-election of Michael Lauber and the indictment. Proximity over time is pure coincidence. The abridged trial had been opened more than three years previously. Besides, Michael Lauber has nothing to do with my client’s lawsuit. ”
Created: 02-14-2020, 06:37
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