SWISS prosecutors have
opened a criminal money laundering probe into UBS after an environmental
campaign group filed a complaint accusing it of links to the proceeds of
alleged illegal logging in Malaysia.
The investigation could be a
new embarrassment for the Swiss bank, fined for helping clients dodge U.S.
taxes in 2009 and facing similar accusations - which it denies - in Germany. It
comes as Switzerland is trying to clean up its image as a haven for ill-gotten
gains.
A spokeswoman for federal
prosecutors said they had opened a criminal investigation into allegations of
money laundering.
She confirmed that UBS was
being investigated in connection with its relationship with Musa Aman, chief
minister of Malaysia's Borneo state of Sabah.
He was accused in the
complaint brought by Switzerland's Bruno Manser Fund in May of links to illegal
logging in Borneo. He did not respond to phone calls, but has previously
dismissed graft allegations as a political conspiracy.
UBS said it was cooperating
with the investigation.
"UBS complies with the
rules and regulations in all the markets where it operates," a spokesman
said, noting the bank is obliged to report to authorities fighting money
laundering if it finds evidence it is holding assets of criminal origin.
In its complaint, the Bruno
Manser Fund, which campaigns to save tropical rainforests in Borneo and the
people who inhabit them, accused UBS of breaching its duty of care by accepting
more than $90 million it said was earned from logging in Sabah. Citing
documents it presented to Swiss prosecutors, it said the money was banked at
UBS in Hong Kong and Zurich.
(Reuters: Reporting by
Katherina Bart in Zurich and Niki Koswanage in Kuala Lumpur; Editing by Matthew
Tostevin)
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