Switzerland’s top lawyer seeks tools to curb financial crime

By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press

BERN, Switzerland (AP) — Switzerland’s new attorney general is pushing parliament to give his office more tools to fight white-collar crime. Stefan Blaettler wants a more robust legal arsenal to help him combat financial malfeasance that has often blighted Switzerland’s financial and business image. In an interview on the sidelines of his first press conference as attorney general, the former Bern police chief laid out his ambitions to fight money laundering, terrorism and corruption in Switzerland. Blaettler’s office last month announced the creation of a task force to help gather information from Ukrainian refugees and to build case files that could be used to bring to justice any war criminals who might come to Switzerland.