Monthly flashlight - June

José Oberholzer, the retired vice president for Private Banking in Spain and South America at Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) was arrested in Zurich three years ago on grounds of suspicion for money-laundering. At the same time the authorities confiscated 150 Million US-Dollars of drug-money belonging to the Cartell of Medellin from an UBS account. Most of this money was given to Oberholzer by Julio César Nasser David and his wife Sheila Arana Nasser between 1978 and 1984 when the Nasser family was working for Pablo Escobar, the now defunct boss of the Cartel of Medellin.

According to the Mexican newspaper Reforma the name Oberholzer surfaced in some documents concerning the background of the 84 Million US-Dollars which Raùl Salinas de Gortari, brother of the former Mexican president Carlos Salinas, had deposited in Switzerland. The indictment of the Zurich Prosecutor did not mention the name Salinas and it is not known, whether the Swiss police was investigating the possible Salinas Connection of Oberholzer.

Zurich Prosecutor for Economical Crime: Profits from Brain Drain

Montedison SpA, a chemicals and agribusiness group in Milan, was deeply tainted by the Italian mani pulite corruption-scandals (See „Swiss Connection" chapter 9). Montedison’s problems are related to the 1993 collapse of the Ferruzi family’s business empire, a product of the aggressive management of the late Raul Gardini. After the bank-led rescue of Ferruzzi-Montedison, all previous management was removed and litigation began in Italy against the former executives, the Ferruzzi and Gardini families and the auditors.

In September 1996 Price Waterhouse, the auditor of Montedison, has announced a proposed global settlement of all claims between Price Waterhouse and Compart (formerly Ferruzzi) and Montedison arising from the financial irregularities discovered at those companies in 1993. The settlement will involve payments by Price Waterhouse Italy of Lire 20 billion (approximately £8 million or $13 million) to Compart and Lire 31 billion (approximately £13 million or $20 million) to Montedison.

On November 21, 1996 Montedison became the target of the Securities and Exchange Commission, US watchdog for the securities markets. Montedison falls under the jurisdiction of the SEC because it lists its American Depositary Receipts on the New York Stock Exchange. „The Commission is going to hold foreign issuers to the same standards of financial reporting as domestic issuers" said Mr. Paul Gerlach, associate director of the SEC’s enforcement division. The SEC's complaint alleges that Montedison violated the antifraud provisions of the American law (Exchange Act) by engaging in a fraudulent scheme to materially misstate its financial condition. The complaint cites two examples: the „Exilar loan", an accounting-entry on the company’s balance-sheet allegedly used to disguise bribes as a loan; and the „Enimont affair", involving the overstatement of property values to disguise bribes totalling around $400 m.

Meanwhile in Switzerland Mr. Ernst Esslinger has left his employer „Curator Revision", Zurich. Curator was commissioned by Price Waterhouse Italy with the mandate to audit the books of Montedison International Lugano-Viganello, Swiss Subsidiary of Montedison. The $400 m bribe money disappeared in some offshore-companies in Curaçao controlled by Montedison International, according to Mr. Matteo Dunatov a collaborator of Price Waterhouse Italy.

On behalf of Curator, Mr. Esslinger had testified, that the books of Montedison International were kept according to Swiss law. Meanwhile Mr. Esslinger joined the office of the Zurich Prosecutor for economical crime (Bezirksanwaltschaft III für den Kanton Zürich).

Jürg Stäubli: In and out of Jail

Mr. Jürg Stäubli, an international businessman from Geneva, sued the author and the publisher of Swiss Connection immediately after the presentation of the book in September 1996. Mr. Stäubli and three other plaintiffs felt their honour damaged by chapter 4. A judge in Geneva ordered the immediate suppression of the book in all bookstores of Switzerland. Two weeks later the ban was lifted and Mr. Stäubli had to compensate for the material damage done to the publisher. Later Stäublis (civil) complaint was transferred from Geneva to Zurich and ended in an out of court settlement. The settlement involved no money transactions but some light editing of the text of chapter 4 for the second edition of Swiss Connection. In a second (criminal) proceeding in Geneva, Mr. Stäubli accused the author of violating Swiss press-law by damaging his honour. After loosing his case before the lower court of Geneva Mr. Stäubli applied to the Geneva superior court.

While creating these litigation problems for the author and the publisher, Mr. Stäubli was arrested by the police in his posh villa near Geneva on December 3, 1996. According to the examining magistrate Mr. Jaques Antenen in Lausanne, the arrest happened in connection with the bankruptcy of three of Mr. Stäubli’s Swiss companies, (Hammerli, Buhlmann, and WR Construction). The failure of these companies also created financial difficulties to Mr. Stäublis JS Holding. The „Banque Cantonale Genevoise" has outstanding credits with JS Holding of approximately CHF 100 Million.

Mr. Stäubli is accused of fraudulent bankruptcy and other offences by Mr. Antenen. After more than two months in jail, Mr. Stäubli was released on bail. Mr. Pierre Arnold, president of Mr. Stäublis JS Holding and Ex-Boss of Switzerland’s powerful Migros Cooperatives paid Mr. Stäubli’s 500’000 CHF bail-money. When Mr. Stäubli came out of prison, Mr. Arnold was convinced that Mr. Stäubli is innocent. His resignation from the presidency of JS Holding had nothing to do with the arrest, but was due to his age of 75, said Mr. Arnold.