Swiss prosecutors suffered a setback in their investigation of a toppled German hedge fund executive, Florian Homm. The financier stands a good chance of eluding prosecution in Switzerland.
A court in Bellinzona denied the attorney general's efforts to pin charges of Florian Homm, a former hedge fund executive who stood accused of a litany of charges including money laundering and fraud, according to Swiss daily «Neue Zuercher Zeitung» (behind paywall, in German).
The setback raises the specter that the 59-year-old Homm, a flamboyant German financier before disappearing in 2007, will escape charges in Switzerland altogether – because the statute of limitations on his alleged crimes will expire. More recently, Homm reinvented himself as a devout Christian and book author after a 15-month spell in Italian jail.
Sloppy Charges
Homm had been charged with his alleged Swiss contacts – a fiduciary and two former executives of Leodan Bank, which went under in 2016. The Swiss court didn't spare in its criticism of the attorney general, represented by prosecutor Graziella De Falco.
The charges were imprecisely articulated, which hinders the defendant's ability to respond, the judge said. The case is enormously complex as well as time-consuming: de Falco submitted 275 pages of charges.
Frozen Funds?
Swiss investigators can go back to the drawing board and appeal the ruling, according to the paper. However, the clock is ticking for the prosecutor: in 2020, the statute of limitations on the first of a spate of charges against Homm expires.
The setback raises the question of what happens to $60 million frozen by the prosecutor in Swiss and Liechtenstein banks and foundations. Homm has laid claim to the funds, as have his former investors looking to recoup their money.
