Swiss Banks Get Best Lawyers in Petrobras Probe, Prosecutor Says
- Over $1 billion seized at banks in Switzerland to date
- One bank in Switzerland is being prosecuted, Lauber said
Petrobras headquarters in Rio de Janeiro.
Photographer: Mario Tama/Getty Images South AmericaThis article is for subscribers only.
Switzerland’s top prosecutor is pursuing at least one bank in the country for its role in the Brazilian corruption affair known as the Carwash. Michael Lauber’s biggest problem expanding the probe is that the banks hire pretty good lawyers.
Swiss law-enforcement officials have opened more than 100 criminal proceedings tied to the so-called Carwash scandal in South America after some Swiss banks were used to funnel bribes from construction firm Odebrecht SA to officials at Brazil’s state-run oil producer Petrobras. So far these include one bank in Switzerland, Lauber, the Swiss Attorney General, told reporters at his annual press conference in the national capital Bern.