The cases do reveal, however, how potent a Gibraltar shell company can be as a wealth-gathering weapon, once twinned with bank accounts around the world. Karimova is currently under house arrest in Uzbekistan, having been swept up in palace intrigue when her father became ill (he died in 2016). The criminal investigation against her has now spread to Switzerland, where prosecutors have frozen 800 million Swiss francs, and are investigating a private bank for allegedly laundering her money. The bank – Lombard Odier, which was founded in 1796 – itself reported its suspicions about the money,
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