Swiss Banks May Clamp Down on Maduro's Money 0 15

Swiss authorities have announced a complete freeze of all assets belonging to Nicolás Maduro that are located in the country. This is a standard procedure following the arrest and indictment of dictators or their deaths. It is regulated by a special law "On the Control of Foreign Assets."

Apparently, the United States has approached the authorities of the alpine republic with a request to freeze all money, real estate, and stocks to prevent them from being moved to offshore accounts.

Formally, Nicolás Maduro or people from his inner circle remain the owners of the assets, but they can no longer manage them.

What wealth does the owner of Venezuela possess, who, along with his civil wife, is in the same prison as Epstein's accomplice, whose acts are currently being avidly read by all of America, searching for the name of the current owner of the White House, Trump, who conducted a brilliant operation to capture Maduro?

Information about his money varies greatly. Financial specialized websites report data indicating that the former bus driver was the biggest pauper among autocrats. His personal fortune is estimated at $2-3 million, and his monthly earnings did not exceed $120. However, the publication notes that this may not be all the money visible at first glance.

U.S. authorities and media hold a different view. According to them, Nicolás Maduro's fortune is estimated to be close to $700 million. The U.S. authorities have managed to confiscate assets worth this amount only within the territory of the States.

Nicolás Maduro and his close associates owned

— several houses in the U.S., including in Florida;

— two private jets, each worth several tens of millions of dollars;

— cars;

— jewelry.

As it turned out, Nicolás Maduro loves horses very much, so he also owned a horse farm, which has been confiscated.

Cash and other property have been seized from accounts in American banks.

As the sources in power say, this is only what has been identified and proven to belong to the dictator. They do not rule out that there may be even more assets; it’s just that their ownership by Maduro and his family has not yet been legally established.

The Venezuelan ex-ruler may have much more money if Switzerland, following the States, has arrested and is examining property, real estate, stocks, and other assets located with the "Swiss gnomes." The U.S. accuses Nicolás Maduro of crimes for which the death penalty is applicable in New York. If a guilty verdict is reached, the issue of money and assets will not be resolved automatically when heirs receive the inheritance, but according to Swiss law.

To begin with, those claiming Maduro's money will have to prove that it was not obtained through corruption, money laundering, or other criminal means.

Moreover, Switzerland has the right to open its own investigation into the origin of the money. If it is established that the money was stolen from Venezuela, then these funds will be returned to the new government, not directly to the heirs.

If it is determined that the assets are clean, they will return to the legitimate heirs, but this is unlikely in the current situation. Sanctions against Venezuela have been in effect since 2019, and American companies have been seeking compensation from the country since 2007 for losses incurred as a result of the nationalization of their assets by Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chávez.

In 1986, Ferdinand Marcos was overthrown in the Philippines. His fortune was kept in Switzerland, the U.S., and offshore accounts in the same Western banks. Marcos was not a poor man. He owned $5-10 billion. Today, this amount would be $14-30 billion, taking inflation into account.

Switzerland engaged in lengthy legal battles and returned $4 billion to the Philippines. The family retained part of the money through trusts, but this cost the heirs millions in legal fees and decades of litigation. The dictator himself died in exile.