Swiss High Court Bans Some Seizures of Cash
<i> Reuters</i>
LAUSANNE, Switzerland —
The state may not seize profits from illegal drug trading if they are subsequently used to pay an unsuspecting third party as part of a legitimate business deal, the Swiss Supreme Court ruled Monday.
The court ordered authorities to return $235,000 seized from a watch dealer in Biel in 1983.
Although prosecutors proved that a Turkish heroin dealer used his ill-gotten gains to pay for a shipment of Swiss watches, they did not prove that the watch dealer knew his payment stemmed from drug sales, the court said.
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