Bahamian authorities have been blamed for being partly responsible for “dealing a blow to US efforts to choke off terror financing”.
Authorities in Switzerland were forced to drop a three-and-a-half year case against top officials of Al Taqwa Management Organization because authorities in the Bahamas failed to provide essential bank records by a court deadline, Claude Nicati, deputy Swiss federal prosecutor told Associated Press.
The Swiss say that the Bahamas “never gave a usable response” to their requests for judicial prudence.
Swiss authorities said on Wednesday that they had halted the investigation into the now defunct Muslim firm that the US suspects of al-Qaida links.
US officials accuse Al Taqwa of sending al-Qaida money through Malta and Switzerland to bank branches in the Bahamas.
The US accused Al Taqwa, which was renamed Nada Management Organization, of helping to fund Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network. The Swiss began investigating the company shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on Washington and New York.
But authorities in the Bahamas failed to co-operate Mr. Nicati said.
Source: The Tribune
