Ex Swiss ambassador found guilty of money laundering

The former Swiss ambassador to Luxembourg, Peter Friederich, has been sentenced to three and half
years in jail.

The Federal Criminal Court found him guilty of money laundering as well as embezzlement, damaging
creditors' interests and falsifying documents.

But the court in Bellinzona cleared him of accusations of belonging to and assisting a criminal
organisation.

Friederich was ordered to pay a SFr15,000 ($12,000) fine and a number of his assets were seized.

Judges said the former ambassador had accepted SFr2.4 million from Spanish-Colombian drug dealers in
2001 while he was ambassador to Luxembourg.

He deposited the money in various bank accounts and received SFr134,000 as a reward, the judges said
on Monday. They added that he should have known that the money was of criminal origin.

Prosecutors had called for a six-year jail sentence for Friederich who pleaded not guilty to most of
the charges.

Stock market
During his diplomatic career, Friederich invested large sums of money in the stock market on behalf
of friends and associates, promising them a high return on their investments.

But when the stock market crashed in 2000, the former ambassador lost SFr5 million ($4.2 million),
putting him under financial pressure.

The court said Friederich embezzled investors' money to pay off debts and for his own ends. It is
not clear whether he will appeal against the verdict.

Friederich was arrested in July 2002 after SFr2.37 million ($2 million) in cash deposits turned up
in his private account in Luxembourg.

The 63-year-old was held in custody for over a month in the Swiss capital, Bern, before being
released pending court proceedings. Later in the year he was suspended from his post and given early
retirement.

Friederich's 30-year diplomatic career included postings to Vietnam, Cuba and finally Luxembourg in
1999.

swissinfo with agencies

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