Evidence has emerged of a link between the sale of Slovakia's national CO2 emissions quotas and a Belize-based business whose representatives have addresses in Slovakia. The sale has aroused controversy because of the low price at which the quotas were sold and the obscure origins of the US-registered company, Interblue Group LLC, which was the official buyer.
The Sme daily has now reported that a letter from the Swiss Authority for Reporting Money Laundering that the newspaper managed to acquire implies that the Swiss noticed a suspicious transaction between Interblue Group LLC and another company, Crataegus Development, based in the Central American republic of Belize.
Tibor Gašpar, head of Slovakia's Anti-corruption Authority, told Sme that the case had been investigated and that the letter concerned was the subject of banking secrecy. However, he confirmed that there had been communication with the Swiss side and that there are more documents involved in the case.
Sme reported that in the letter the head of the Swiss Authority for Reporting Money Laundering asked the Slovak authorities to provide information about several representatives of Interblue Group LLC and Crataegus Development, two of whom have permanent addresses in Slovakia. Apart from people already identified in association with Interblue, namely Jana Luetken and Hans Grob, the list includes a Czech citizen, Marek Pleyer, who, it has been alleged, was the owner of Interblue Group LLC. So far, Sme reported, the Swiss authorities have refused to answer any of its questions.
Source: Sme
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
