SWITZERLAND - Swiss prosecutors have cleared two senior employees of the CHF2.3bn (€1.6bn) Gemini multi-employer pension fund following an investigation into CHF6m of missing fees.

Professor Carl Helbling, former head of Gemini's trustee board, and Oscar Leutwyler, co-owner of Gemini Personalvorsorge, were cleared of any illegal activities following an investigation by the Swiss social ministry and prosecutors.

In 2007, a proposed sale of Gemini Personalvorsorge revealed that CHF6m in insurance and investment fees had been kept by the company, rather than transferred to the multi-employer scheme.

Swisscanto - which approached to acquire the company at the time - said it discovered Gemini had failed to comply with domestic pension regulations.

In June that year, Swisscanto spokesman Beat Amstutz told IPE: "The fact was, the firm did nothing."

The revelations eventually led to the resignations of both Helbling and Leutwyler, as well as a lawsuit by Gemini Pensionskasse that saw it awarded CHF6.4m in compensation, amounting to the outstanding fees with interest.

In a statement, the Swiss social ministry said it had referred the incident to the prosecutor.

It added: "The relevant public prosecutor has meanwhile reached the conclusion that no criminal offences were committed and therefore closed the investigation."

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