Charges against Liechtenstein trustees | NZZ

Liechtenstein’s former highest constitutional judge has been sentenced to six years in prison for fraud and money laundering.

25 years of independent judiciary in MV © picture alliance / Henning Kaise

Vaduz – The 69-year-old admitted his guilt but appealed the sentence, as the chief prosecutor of the small principality between Switzerland and Austria told the Swiss news agency sda on Monday. The man himself did not contest the conviction for aggravated breach of trust, aggravated commercial fraud, and money laundering.

According to the court, the sum involved was 13 million Swiss francs (just over eleven million euros). The lawyer had promised friends and acquaintances that he would manage the money as a trustee. He said in court that he had lost track of the transactions . The money is gone.

The wealthy Liechtenstein is roughly the size of Freiburg and has 37,000 German-speaking residents. For years, it was notorious as a financial center for shady financial transactions . Since then, the principality has tightened banking supervision. The banks manage billions in assets. The head of state is Prince Hans-Adam II, who has left the affairs of state to his son, Hereditary Prince Alois.