Switzerland Examines Alleged Money-Laundering by Yanukovych

The Swiss public ministry is looking into suspicions of money-laundering by deposed Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, a spokeswoman said Saturday.

The information from the Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) had been reported in the Swiss-German press.

The money-laundering probe concerns possible corruption "for which Viktor Yanukovych and his entourage could be involved," said the spokeswoman for the federal ministry in Bern.

The pro-Moscow ex-Ukrainian leader and his entourage, whose assets were frozen by the Swiss government two weeks ago, are already being investigated by the canton of Geneva.

Ukrainians, grappling with an economy on the brink of default, were shocked by the breathtaking opulence of Yanukovych's vast country estate which was flung open for all to see when he went into hiding and fled to Russia.