Rolex and gold bars for Trump Juso and Greens denounce Swiss entrepreneurs
Valuable gifts for Trump: the meeting between Swiss entrepreneurs and the US President may have played a decisive role in the customs deal. But now politicians are denouncing "Team Switzerland".
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- Politicians from the Greens and the Young Socialists have denounced Swiss entrepreneurs. It's about the possible bribery of foreign public officials.
- "Team Switzerland" met with US President Donald Trump as part of the customs negotiations.
- Trump was presented with a Rolex and a gold bar.
The pictures went around the world: a "Team Switzerland" made up of Swiss businesspeople visited Donald Trump in the Oval Office during the customs negotiations. In August, the US President imposed hefty tariffs of 39% on goods from Switzerland - more than any other country in the world.
In the meantime, Switzerland and the USA have agreed on a much less painful 15 percent tariff. The meeting with Donald Trump is said to have played a decisive role in the deal.
Politicians denounce "Team Switzerland"
However, one detail of the meeting caused some fierce criticism - and may now lead to investigations. The entrepreneurs from "Team Switzerland" presented the president with a Rolex and a gold bar.
For politicians from the Greens and the Young Socialists, this could be seen as bribery. The Office of the Attorney General must now investigate whether this is the case. Two Green Party members have filed a criminal complaint against "Team Switzerland", as reported by "Die Wochenzeitung".
Greta Gysin, a member of the National Council in Ticino, and Raphaël Mahaim, a member of the National Council in Vaud, are behind the complaint. The two believe that the gifts violate a section of the Swiss Criminal Code that prohibits the bribery of foreign public officials. The Young Socialists have also filed a criminal complaint with the Office of the Attorney General, reports Watson.
"It is absurd that billionaires sat in the Oval Office"
According to Juso leader Mirjam Hostetmann, the Rolex watch and the gold bar gave the impression of bribery. Entrepreneurs would benefit "disproportionately" from a tariff reduction, according to the ad. Hostetmann says: "It is absurd that billionaires were sitting in the Oval Office, in the place where elected democratic representatives should actually be sitting."
Daniel Jaeggi, co-founder of Mercuria, Alfred Gantner, co-founder of Partners Group, Johann Rupert, President of Richemont, Jean-Frédéric Dufour, CEO of Rolex, Marwan Shakarchi, head of the gold refinery MKS Pamp and Diego Aponte, Group President of the shipping company MSC, were all denounced. Aponte was unable to attend the meeting at short notice, reports Blick. However, he signed the joint declaration.
Expert does not expect criminal proceedings
While the non-governmental organization Transparency International considers the charges to be justified, criminal law experts point out the high hurdles for criminal proceedings.
Business law expert Peter V. Kunz from the University of Bern, for example, speaks of a "taint", but emphasizes to "Blick": "The criminal charges seem to me to be politically rather than legally motivated, and I don't give them any chance of success". On the contrary, he assumes that the Office of the Attorney General will not open proceedings.
