The case

In its judgements B-2284/2023 and B-3507/2022, the Federal Administrative Court (FAC) rejected appeals lodged against the freezing of assets belonging to politically exposed persons associated with former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

Source: Media release on the judgement B-2284/2023, B-3507/2022 /13.06.2024 FAC

The commentary

At the time, these freezes were imposed by the Swiss Federal Council in connection with the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine after earlier mutual legal assistance proceedings had failed. The assets amount to over CHF 100 million.

The freezes concern bank accounts opened in Switzerland by people close to Yanukovych during the years of his presidency (2010-2014). After his overthrow in 2014, the new Ukrainian government initiated criminal investigations against these individuals on the basis of allegations of corruption, abuse of office and money laundering, which led to Switzerland and the European Union block various accounts.

After international legal assistance had been unsuccessful, the Federal Council again froze the assets in the wake of the Russian war of aggression on the Ukraine. The aim of these freezes was and is to enable authorities to confiscate the funds as part of legal proceedings and prevent the money from flowing out, though it must be pointed out that the legal ownership issues have not been conclusively clarified in these proceedings and have been reserved for future legal proceedings.

The complainants argued that the freezes were disproportionate as the assets had not been illegally acquired. Despite these arguments, the court rejected the complaints lodged and confirmed that the freezes were a precautionary measure to secure the funds until the ownership issues have been clarified in separate proceedings.

The court also examined whether the asset freezes fulfil the requirements of Art. 4 para. 2 let. a to c of Swiss law on the freezing and restitution of unlawfully acquired assets (SRVG). The issue here was the proportionality and legality of these measures.

The freezing pursuant to Art. 4 SRVG is a precautionary measure that ensures that the suspicious funds cannot flow out with regard to the legal proceedings (judgments of the FAC B-2752/2023 of 25 October 2023 E. 2.3 and 2.5; B-2760/2023 of 25 October 2023 E. 2.3 and 2.5; dispatch on the SRVG, BBl 2014 5265, 5302). Property law issues are not dealt with and are reserved for the subsequent legal proceedings in accordance with Art. 14 et seq. of the SRVG (Dispatch on the SRVG, BBl 2014 5265, 5325).

The judgements can be referred to the Federal Supreme Court.

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