The head of Switzerland's anti-money laundering authority has exited with immediate effect. The sudden departure comes as Swiss banks work their way through a series of embarrassing dirty money scandals.
Stiliano Ordolli, the long-standing head of Switzerland's money laundering notification authority MROS, has left his job this week with immediate effect, the Swiss government said on Friday.
«The head of MROS expressed the desire to leave the federal police and to take on a new challenge. He has been dismissed of his duties,» a government spokeswoman said. She gave no reasons for the sudden departure of Ordolli, who has led the authority since 2013.
His departure was first reported on Friday by Swiss daily «Tages-Anzeiger» (in German, behind paywall), which reported that he and several subordinates had been questioned in recent weeks over what the employees viewed as the deficiencies in Ordolli's leadership including unequal treatment of staff.
Watchdog Isolated
His exit comes as Swiss banks come to grips with several major graft scandals including 1MDB and Petrobras. The MROS is largely isolated from other agencies such as Swiss regulator Finma and intelligence authorities. Switzerland has lagged rival finance centers like Britain and Singapore in more closely linking up criminal and regulatory arms, as finews.com wrote last year.
MROS said that a Rene Buehler will take over Ordolli's role temporarily. The anti-money laundering unit will launch a public search for a permanent replacement. The 45-year-old Ordolli, who has worked in banking as well as government, couldn't immediately be reached.
