Swiss Agree to Block Bank Accounts : Officials Act After U.S. Files Data on Alleged Offenses in Iran Deal

BERN, Switzerland â€”  The Swiss government, complying with a request from the U.S. Justice Department, Monday blocked at least two bank accounts suspected of being used to divert money from the sale of American arms to Iran.

Millions of dollars are believed to have passed through Swiss banks to buy weapons for the contra anti-government forces in Nicaragua.

Swiss officials moved to block the accounts after the U.S. Justice Department submitted a 12-page document detailing suspected offenses by Americans.

Linked to North

The bank deposits have been linked to Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, dismissed as a member of the National Security Council staff; retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord, a former Pentagon official who has ties to Iran and the contras, and Albert A. Hakim, a Secord business associate and an Iranian-born Californian.

Swiss government sources said that the charges raised against the three men by the Justice Department involve “abuse of official power� and “fraud� concerning U.S. property.

“The U.S. document was very detailed in describing the (alleged) crimes,� a Swiss official said. “They were very clear as to which documents should be handed down.�

Translation Needed

Nevertheless, the Swiss say that their investigation into the bank accounts cannot begin officially until the U.S. Embassy in Bern, the Swiss capital, provides a French translation of the material received Saturday from the Justice Department. French, German and Italian are official languages in Switzerland; English is not.

The request from Washington reportedly referred to a bank account with which North, Secord and Hakim are said by authorities to have been associated and asked also that the Swiss block any other accounts tied to these men.

A spokesman at Credit Suisse Bank headquarters in Zurich said Monday that bank officers would search two accounts that were blocked by the bank last week and any others that may be linked with the three Americans.

“This is not so easy,� a Credit Suisse spokesman said Monday night. “They may have used different names in their accounts.�

The U.S. originally asked a week ago that two bank accounts in Geneva be blocked, but the Swiss government said the request was not properly detailed. However, the bank put the two accounts “under surveillance,� an official said.

Under agreements between the two countries, the United States must show that a crime has been committed in the United States--one that is also recognized as a crime in Switzerland--before the secrecy laws may be lifted to examine bank accounts.

Documents Impounded

The government order means that all cash transactions in the accounts are blocked and that all documents are impounded, including records of financial transactions and correspondence between the bank and the clients.

Under Swiss law, anyone being investigated has 10 days to file an appeal and no information may be made public by the government during that period.

If an appeal is filed, it is done before the Supreme Court in Lausanne, where the appellant has 30 days to present his case against lifting the bank secrecy laws before an investigation may be undertaken.

Fiduciary Companies

Lt. Col. North is believed to have set up one or more bank accounts in Switzerland with the help of Americans connected with fiduciary companies here. The fiduciaries usually have the authority to transfer money on instructions received by telephone and thus are often used in connection with secret bank accounts when the holders cannot appear in person to deposit or withdraw money.

The fiduciaries and their directors are listed in public records in the various cantons (states) in Switzerland, but the identity and size of bank accounts normally are secret.