Swiss return $200m as part of Stanford fraud case

In one of the biggest fraud cases in recent US economic history, Switzerland is handing over around $200 million (CHF178 million) to the United States. The money is to be returned to the injured parties, the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) said in a statement on Monday. The restitution became possible after the US investment broker Allen Stanford was convicted of fraud in the US. Stanford had defrauded thousands of investors out of more than $7 billion between 2001 and 2008 with a Ponzi scheme. For this, he was sentenced to 110 years in prison in the US in 2012. The criminal assets were confiscated in favour of the injured parties. Switzerland supported the US in these criminal proceedings. The FOJ handed over to the US authorities relevant bank documents relating to various accounts in Swiss banks and ordered the seizure of assets in Swiss accounts. In 2019, following the final confiscation judgment in the US, the FOJ ordered the return of the frozen assets. The appeals filed...