The US Helsinki Commission has called for sanctions to be imposed against three Swiss citizens in connection with a Russian tax scandal. Among them are former attorney general Michael Lauber and a former federal public prosecutor, Patrick Lamon.
The third Swiss is Vinzenz Schnell, a Russia expert at the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol).
The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) on Saturday rejected the accusations and demands for sanctions.
The Helsinki Commission sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen asking them to consider the sanctions. This was done at the behest of investor Bill Browder.
According to the letter, dated July 27, the three Swiss nationals are to be sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act. This authorises the US government to sanction individuals who financially profited from the murder in 2009 of Sergei Magnitsky, the lawyer for Hermitage Capital Management in Russia, which Bill Browder co-founded. Magnitsky had uncovered a $230 million (CHF200 million) tax fraud scandal perpetrated by Russian nationals.