Swiss envoy arrested after fraud inquiry

The Swiss ambassador to Luxembourg has been arrested on suspicion of money laundering.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office said Peter Friederich was detained in the Swiss capital, Berne, on Monday.

A spokesman for the prosecutor's office, Hansjuerg Mark Wiedmer, said the arrest followed "private transactions worth several hundred thousand francs", and the money was of "unknown origin".

Luxembourg's anti-laundering authorities alerted their Swiss counterparts to the transactions in February and the Federal Prosecutor's Office began an investigation that identified the ambassador last week, Mr Wiedmer said. There was no evidence yet that Mr Friederich had abused his office, he added.

Under Swiss law, Mr Friederich could face a maximum five-year prison sentence or a fine of SFr1m (£430,000).

Mr Friederich, 60, joined the Swiss diplomatic service in 1971. His first appointment as an ambassador was in 1991, in Vietnam. He moved to Cuba in 1995 and was posted to Luxembourg in December 1999.