Swiss return frozen Aeroflot assets
Switzerland has returned assets worth SFr53 million ($51.7 million) to the Russian airline Aeroflot at the centre of a fraud scandal.
The Federal Justice Office said the funds were transferred following a request for legal assistance by Russia three years ago.
The Russian authorities launched proceedings into the embezzlement of Aeroflot assets by former managers, a Swiss lawyer and Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky in the late 1990s.
All the defendants were tried and found guilty by courts in Russia and Switzerland.
The funds placed on a Swiss bank account were frozen as a result. The sum corresponds to the loss for which the airline was claiming compensation.
Switzerland repeatedly provided legal assistance in the case and started a criminal investigation into money laundering and corporate fraud, according to a statement on Friday by the federal justice office.
swissinfo.ch and agencies
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
Newsletters
Contributions under this article have been turned off. You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.