The Swiss Federal Criminal Court has refused Egypt's request for the return of the money smuggled by the former regime figures, Egyptian official announced during a conference on Saturday. Judge Kamel Gerges, the head of the General Prosecution's International Cooperation Bureau, has held a press conference on Saturday to view the results of the negotiation conducted with Switzerland over the return of the smuggled money. Gerges revealed that the Swiss court has rejected the request submitted by the Egyptian government to send back the funds smuggled out of Egypt by Mubarak regime figures after the January uprising. Switzerland is holding 700 million Swiss Francs (US$767 million) that were smuggled out of Egypt by the former regime. A delegation headed by Judge Kamel Gerges traveled to Switzerland five days ago to discuss the recovery of the funds, Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper reported. The delegation included officials from the Ministry of Justice, the Illicit Gains Authority and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During the visit Gerges submitted the proposal to the Swiss judiciary to draft a law governing the exchange of money smuggled between the two countries. In December the Swiss federal criminal court ruled that the Egyptian authorities had not provided legal documents relevant to Swiss criminal procedures against the Mubaraks due to political instability.
