We may NOT get the stolen money – 72 billion

The Kenyan DAILY POSTNews02:56

MON July 16^th 2012 – Until you prove the 72 billion is illegal, you will not get any.

Those are the words of the Swiss envoy to Kenya Mr. Jacques Pitteloud. The efforts of the government to access the more than sh 72 billion fraudulently acquired and stashed in Swiss banks have hit a snag after the Swiss government stated that it does not know if the money had been corruptly earned in Kenya  before it was banked in Switzerland.

“There is no connection to a criminal origin of assets reported to Swiss National Bank by Swiss banks according to published statistical data,’’ he said. 

Mr. Pitteloud said it is impossible for the Swiss government to determine, out of all millions in Swiss banks whether any or which proportion of it could be possibly of criminal origin.

Mr. Pitteloud was responding to a report by the Swiss National Bank which said that it would amount to “judicial colonialism’’ if his country took over the responsibility 0f determining who committed fraud in Kenya.

"We cannot say that or that person is corrupt. That is left for the Kenyan judicial authorities,” Mr Pitteloud said.

The envoy however admitted that there could be some fraudulent money stored in Switzerland but it is not up to them to do investigation. The Swiss National Bank’s report had revealed that Kenya is among the countries in Africa, whose citizens and companies have huge amounts of money stored in Swiss banks.

The government suspects that money stolen in the Anglo-Leasing scandal was stored in Swiss banks and other overseas countries.

The Kenyan DAILY POST