The Vatican is not enough

Dark clouds over snow-capped peaks. Like arrows pierce the sun, the oppressive Dark rays. Against this apocalyptic backdrop of the Alps is a man. Dark suit, white shirt, sharp look. This is René Brülhart. As "James Bond of the financial world" appeared often in the media.

anyone Who Googles the name of the 46-year-old from the Canton of Freiburg, pushes to the photo in front of this bleak mountain world. The lawyer Brülhart has, apparently, self-customize, to a time when he headed in Liechtenstein, the office for the detection of money laundering and Organised crime (FIU).

in 2012, caught up with him, the Pope from Vaduz in the Vatican, as head of the financial supervision. Since then, Newspapers have to wash the Image of the tough fighter against money and corruption more solidified. They titled their portraits with "The Stubborn" or "The good Conscience of the Vatican".

business partner on suspicion of corruption

Now documents, the Recherchedesk available to the Tamedia-show, an other, a non-official page of the Swiss. Brülhart not addressed in public, in an effective financial crime. He also works discreetly and in good money – for people who are under suspicion of corruption.

it is reported As the "Sunday newspaper" yesterday, flippers around 2.5 million Swiss francs of the company Petro Audi to a company, the Brülhart is involved. Petro Audi, in turn, is fraud in the Billion to the Malaysian state Fund 1MDB involved.

For the Federal advocacy in Bern, this is one of the largest cases, because large sums of money were moved about Switzerland. In September 2018, it had a block according to its own information, the funds in connection with the payments made to companies by Brülhart. It is often, that criminal authorities in the case of economy seized the procedure the accounts of uninvolved third persons, says this: Neither he nor his companies were accused in proceedings in the Federal Prosecutor's office.

a Particularly piquant thing is not only to accounts of firms in a high-profile money-laundering,-the Fighter reported that Swiss Bank a money laundering suspicion. When Brülhart, it is also a Familiar of the Federal lawyer Michael Lauber . The two have been friends since common Liechtensteiner times, and were, until recently, often.

He warned of "corrupt cops"

It is also the first Time that the Name of René Brülhart shows up in the investigation files. On several occasions he is called in the German, Austrian and Swiss Investigation, in which it comes to bribery of officials. In the countries of interwoven processes due to private messages run together procurement on presumed illegal. Brülhart will also lead nowhere as a suspect.

But he was a business partner of one of the accused – the German private agent Christina Wilkening. Today, the 71-Year-old, once active for the GDR state security, worked on behalf of large corporations and Eastern European oligarchs, who wanted to find out something about your competitors or about investigations by the justice against you. The Berliner over the decades built a network of lawyers, journalists, and officials, providing information and getting paid for it.

In many cases, it was quite legal. In the case of police, intelligence, and financial officials tend not to. 2017 Wilkening was arrested in Germany and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of two years, among other things, because they had lubricated a detective chief superintendent.

As a lawyer, Brülhart certain limits, was aware of.

From the statements Wilkenings before German investigators, show that Brülhart warned of the cooperation with the later arrested German police: Corrupt, paid a COP, and it was nothing for him, he should have declared. As a lawyer, Brülhart was aware of the fact that he is not allowed to exceed certain limits.

But as he went on with possible conflicts of interest between its Offices and activities as a kind of freelance intelligence agents? As Brülhart left in 2012, Vaduz the direction of the Vatican, he founded in Zurich in their own company, the RnB AG and the European branch of the American consulting company TD International (TD-I), which supports companies to avoid "damage to its image and political risks". Behind TD-I, former U.S. military leaders and diplomats, according to media reports, the secret service, the CIA operates.

among the European contacts of TD-I, too, Christina Wilkening, who had taken according to justice Brülhart documents previously in Zurich and Vaduz. Wilkening said in German criminal proceedings, the TD-I was "in many cases" your Client. The long-term cooperation is well documented in the investigation files, which could see this editorial.

suspected of abuse of office

Special interest of the Austrian criminal tracker is a frozen mail traffic wakes from July 2015: Brülhart Wilkening asks for research on the Russians Alexey K., the Ex-CEO of a large Russian Software developer. K. have settled in Austria, where 40 million dollars in assets, given a tax statement, write Brülhart, Could verify this information? And if Yes: "What is the cost?"

Vienna, investigators now suspect that Brülhart was in the order of the Russian competitors of the Manager. Wilkening responds Brülhart, that such a request could only make "Hubert B.", a chief inspector at the Austrian Federal Agency for state protection and counter terrorism (BVT). She writes, Brülhart know the officials of the domestic intelligence service in Vienna.

It Brülhart receives, according to the investigation files of Wilkening a cost estimate for the Digging of tax data. Wilkening calls on Brülhart, "for H. s efforts to strike" a little of it – is meant to be a reward for the effort of Hubert B.

in fact, have been queried then an Austrian office, the tax information to the Russians. Later, she appeared in defamatory Reports in the Russian press. In Austria is now determined against a number of financial officials and the chief inspector, because of "amtsmiss-depleting cher actions".

someone Has paid for this alleged abuse of power? The corruption Prosecutor's office in Vienna, gives no information on the case. Brülhart responds to the Tamedia-Recherchedesk that he had been summoned in the criminal proceedings, neither party to interviews and no mentioned in the question, the projects involved. To could possible mandates and "related to, or are suspected of activities" he will give for reasons of confidentiality, no information.

No Couvert for Lauber

Brülhart writes, he is "the highest requirements in compliance with legal regulations and ethical Standards". Otherwise, "it would be impossible for me, full of responsibility and mandates, such as the Bureau of the financial Supervisory authority of the Vatican believe to perceive worthy."

Wilkening wanted to tackle, moreover, Brülhart also a Federal Prosecutor Lauber. The reason is that The Federal Prosecutor is in the process of a corruption case against the Ukrainian Ex-Minister Mykola Martinenko complete. Wilkening, who acted for the Martinenko-page, and wanted to win Brülhart, to hand over to his friend Lauber an Envelope with allegedly exculpatory information. According to their statements, refused Brülhart, to do this. Also your desire to meet to third-Lauber, he had knocked out.

(editing Tamedia)

Created: 12.05.2019, 21:27 PM