Hungary boat tragedy captain already under investigation over earlier accident

Yahoo – AFP, June 6, 2019

Candles have been lit close to the Danube in memory of the victims (AFP
Photo/ATTILA KISBENEDEK)

The captain of a river cruise ship involved in a deadly collision last week with a smaller sightseeing boat in Budapest is already under investigation over another accident in April, Hungarian prosecutors said Thursday, as the toll rose to 17.

After last week's crash, the 64-year-old Ukrainian captain of the larger Viking Sigyn ship was arrested on suspicion of "endangering waterborne traffic resulting in multiple deaths".

Hungarian press reports said the same man, named as Yuriy C., was being investigated over the collision of another Viking ship, the Idun, with a chemicals tanker near the Dutch city of Terneuzen on April 1.

"He is being treated as a suspect in Holland," the Metropolitan Chief Prosecutor's Office told AFP in a statement, citing information from the EU judicial agency Eurojust, but without confirming the incident they were referring to.

In a statement sent to AFP on Thursday, Viking said: "We can confirm that even though the captain of the Viking Sigyn was onboard the Viking Idun on April 1, he was not serving as the ship's captain at the time of the incident."

"We are unable to comment further while the investigations of both incidents are ongoing," the statement added.

At the time of the April collision, the Idun had 43 crew and 137 passengers on board. Several passengers were injured.

Dutch authorities are still investigating the circumstances of that collision.

Hungarian prosecutors also said Thursday that the captain was suspected of "deleting data from his telephone after the collision" in Budapest.

The captain's lawyers could not be reached for comment on Thursday but said in a statement issued last Friday that he was "devastated" by the accident and insisted that he did not make any errors.

Meanwhile the death toll rose to 17 after the bodies of two more South Korean tourists were identified, leaving 11 people still missing from the occupants of the Mermaid sightseeing vessel -- nine South Koreans and two Hungarian crew members.

The Mermaid overturned and sank on May 29 seconds after colliding with the Viking Sigyn on a busy stretch of the Danube river in the heart of Budapest.

Only seven people are known to have survived the accident.

Divers have been unable to enter the sunken boat due to the strong current in a river swollen after weeks of rain.

A barge carrying a crane powerful enough to lift the Mermaid arrived in Budapest Wednesday but was to remain docked in the north of the city until the river level subsides enough to allow it to pass under several bridges to reach the accident scene.

Experts said the crane was unlikely to begin the salvage operation before the weekend.

The Viking Sigyn left Budapest with a new captain last Friday but Seoul has reportedly asked Hungarian authorities to return the ship to Budapest for the duration of the investigation.

EU judges offer no 'break' to Kit Kat trademark war

Yahoo – AFP, 25 July 2018

The European Court of Justice ordered the EU's intellectual property office to
consider its trademark recognition of Nestle's iconic Kit Kat chocolate bar

The European Union's top court on Wednesday ordered the EU's intellectual property office to "reconsider" Kit Kat's bloc-wide trademark, prolonging Nestle's decade-long battle to claim exclusive rights over the chocolate bar's distinctive shape.

Nestle has been locked in a blockbuster legal war with US rival Mondelez, maker of Cadbury chocolate, over the four-fingered wafer biscuit which was first sold in 1935.

In a closely watched case, the European Court of Justice said the EU's intellectual property office must go back to the drawing board and revisit its 2006 to decision to grant Kit Kat an EU trade mark based on its shape.

But in a break for Nestle, the Luxembourg-based ECJ did not cancel the trade mark outright, as suggested by the court's top advisor in April, with the EU intellectual property office now tasked to re-visit the basis for awarding the trademark.

"Today no one has won, no one has lost. Nestle has saved time because its brand remains registered for the time being," a court source told AFP.

"But Nestle did lose a battle as it would have preferred a full confirmation of the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) decision," the source added.

The EU's intellectual property office allowed Nestle in 2006 to trademark what the court calls the "three-dimensional shape of the 'Kit Kat 4 fingers' product".

This trademark has helped keep copycat candy-bars out of grocery stores, and punished the development of similar treats owned by Mondelez, including the Norwegian favourite Kvikk Lunsj, a Kit Kat doppelganger.

The EU's intellectual property office "must reconsider whether the three-dimensional shape of a '4 Finger KitKat' can be retained as an EU trade mark," a court statement said.

At issue is that the food giant specifically failed to provide evidence that the Kit Kat shape was well enough known in Belgium, Ireland, Greece and Portugal.

A lower EU court "was right to annul the EU's intellectual property office decision, in which it concluded that distinctive character had been acquired" without including those countries in the case, a statement said.

The trade mark criteria "must be shown throughout the EU," it said.

Nestle has already lost a legal bid in Britain -- currently an EU member state but set to leave next year -- to trademark the Kit Kat shape.

"Today?s judgment is not final," a Nestle spokesperson said in an email.

"We think the evidence proves that the familiar shape of our iconic four finger KitKat is distinctive enough to be registered as an EU Trademark," Nestle added.

The European Court of Justice ordered the EU's intellectual property office to consider its trademark recognition of Nestle's iconic Kit Kat chocolate bar

Credit Suisse apparent target of massive tax fraud probe

Yahoo – AFP, Ben Simon, March 31, 2017

Credit Suisse simply said its offices had been 'visited' by authorities, but reports
 say it's the main target of a sweeping tax evasion probe (AFP Photo/FABRICE
COFFRINI)

Geneva (AFP) - Authorities in Europe and Australia announced a sweeping tax evasion probe Friday reportedly targeting Credit Suisse clients and senior employees, as investigators detailed arrests and the seizure of artworks and gold.

There was no definitive confirmation that Credit Suisse was the main target of the fraud investigations, run by at least four European countries and Canberra and apparently involving hundreds of suspects.

The Swiss financial giant simply confirmed that its offices in London, Paris and Amsterdam had been visited by local authorities on Thursday "concerning client tax matters".

"We are cooperating with the authorities", Switzerland's number-two bank said in a statement.

Dutch prosecutors said dozens of people who allegedly concealed millions of euros were being probed for tax fraud and money laundering and that records were seized on Thursday from "a Swiss bank" which they did not name.

Similar operations were carried out in Britain, France, Germany and Australia, all focused on clients who "deposited their money in the same Swiss bank", according to a statement from the National Prosecutor's Office for Serious Fraud, Environmental Crime and Asset Confiscation (FIOD).

Two people accused of not declaring their savings have been arrested and two other suspects were interrogated, the FIOD said.

"Properties, and jewellery, an expensive car, expensive paintings and a gold bar", were seized from houses in The Hague and three other areas, the Dutch statement added.

'Senior employees' targeted

Britain's Revenue and Customs office said that it on Thursday along with international partners had launched a criminal probe into tax evasion and money laundering "by a global financial institution".

"The first phase of the investigation, which will see further, targeted, activity over the coming weeks, is focused on senior employees from within the institution, along with a number of its customers," the statement from London said.

It also made no mention of Credit Suisse, but said the investigation should serve as a stark reminder to institutions that aim to help clients evade tax.

Would-be tax cheats "need to wake up to reality and accept that attempting to hide wealth overseas, or within institutions, doesn't work."

French prosecutors confirmed that they too had opened a tax fraud investigation into undeclared Swiss bank accounts.

The financial fraud office said it had identified several thousands of accounts in Switzerland that were allegedly used to hide money.

This amounted to suspected "aggravated dissimulation of tax fraud", it said, with no reference to Credit Suisse.

346 people implicated

In Australia, revenue and financial services minister Kelly O'Dwyer said investigators there had identified more than 346 people "with links to Swiss banking relationship managers" who allegedly promoted tax evasion.

Australian investigators plan to "move quickly" against those who schemed to hide wealth, she said, noting however that some of those in the firing line will likely be exonerated.

The launch of a coordinated, international probe targeting an iconic Swiss bank came as a surprise to Bern, Switzerland's ATS news agency reported.

The Swiss attorney general's office was not aware of the operations and demanded a written explanation from Dutch officials in particular over the lack of cooperation, according to ATS.

Credit Suisse has previously been in the crosshairs of tax officials.

US regulators fined the bank $2.6 billion (2.4 billion euros) in 2014 for helping Americans evade taxes.

"Credit Suisse continues to follow a strategy of full client tax compliance," the bank said Friday.

The coordinated probe comes as Credit Suisse rolls out its new Automatic Exchange of Information programme designed to share taxpayer information with relevant global authorities as part of a wider Swiss crackdown on money laundering and secretive banking.

burs/bs/jh

Related Article:

Dutch investigators in hunt for tax evaders

Dutch MPs to call for better EU security service cooperation

DutchNews, March 29, 2016    

Photo: Sisyfus via Wikimedia

MPs will call on the government to press for better cooperation between Europe’s security services during Tuesday’s debate on the Brussels bombing, according to the Volkskrant. 

Justice minister Ard van der Steur, the paper says, will be given a rough ride by MPs during the debate. In particular, MPs want more information about last week’s revelations that one of the Brussels bombers had been sent to the Netherlands by Turkey. 

Van der Steur told MPs last week that Turkey had informed the Netherlands digitally that Ibrahim El Bakraoui was on a plane to Schiphol but did not alert the Dutch police. Opposition MPs have submitted 166 follow up questions, the Volkskrant says. 

MPs also want to know how the Netherlands, in its current role as EU president, plans to improve the exchange of information between security services.

‘We have to conclude that cooperation between European security services is failing on many fronts,’ Socialist Party leader Emile Roemer told the paper. 

In addition, opposition MPs and the ruling VVD are expected to demand the government beefs up investment in the police.

A memorial to the victims. Photo: Miguel Discart on Flickr

via Wikimedia Commons

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EU court strikes Hamas from terror blacklist

Yahoo – AFP, Danny Kemp, 17 Dec 2014

A Palestinian protestor with his face covered in a balaclava in the colours of his

 national flag and holding a Hamas movement flag looks on during clashes with

Israeli soldiers in Hebron on August 8, 2014. (Photo by Hazem Bader, AFP/File)

The Palestinian Islamic militant group Hamas must be removed from the EU's terrorism blacklist, but its assets will stay frozen for the time being, a European court ruled on Wednesday.

The original listing in 2001 was based not on sound legal judgements but on conclusions derived from the media and the Internet, the General Court of the European Union said in a statement.

But it stressed that Wednesday's decision to remove Hamas was based on technical grounds and does "not imply any substantive assessment of the question of the classification of Hamas as a terrorist group."

Hamas, which has been in power in the

 Palestinian territory of Gaza since 2007,

 had appealed against its inclusion on

 the blacklist on several grounds. (Photo

by Mahmud Hams / AFP/File)

The freeze on Hamas's funds will also temporarily remain in place for three months pending any appeal by the EU, the Luxembourg-based court said.

Hamas, which has been in power in the Palestinian territory of Gaza since 2007, had appealed against its inclusion on the blacklist on several grounds.

The judgement comes hours before the European Parliament is expected to vote on the recognition of a Palestinian state, after several EU countries enraged Israel by taking a similar step.

Hamas's military wing was added to the European Union's first-ever terrorism blacklist drawn up in December 2001 in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States.

The EU blacklisted the political wing of Hamas in 2003.

"The General Court finds that the contested measures are based not on acts examined and confirmed in decisions of competent authorities but on factual imputations derived from the press and the Internet," the court said.

Instead, such an action had to be based on facts previously established by competent authorities.

European Parliament vote

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers were removed from the list in October after an almost identical judgement.

The lawyer for Hamas, Liliane Glock, told AFP she was "satisfied with the decision".

"Every decision since 2001 imposing restrictive measures, including on the armed wing, have been annulled. I believe that this judgement shows the whole world that it exists and is legal," Glock said.

Hamas was founded in 1987 shortly after

 the start of the first Palestinian intifada, or

 uprising, and was inspired by Egypt's

Muslim Brotherhood EU court strikes

Hamas from terror blacklist. (Photo by

Mahmud Hams /AFP/File)

The lawyer added that the court's decision also showed that the EU could not base its decision on the US terror list, although there was no mention of that list in the court's judgement.

There was no immediate reaction from the Israeli government nor from the EU.

Hamas was founded in 1987 shortly after the start of the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, and was inspired by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

There is a growing impatience in Europe over the failure to make progress in the Middle East peace talks.

After Ireland's and Portugal's parliaments became the latest earlier this week to back recognition of a Palestinian state, the European Parliament in Strasbourg will vote on a similar motion later Wednesday.

The motion says that the parliament "supports in principle recognition of Palestinian statehood and the two state solution, and believes these should go hand in hand with the development of peace talks, which should be advanced."

With the peace process stalled, the Palestinians on Wednesday will push on with a draft UN resolution demanding an end to Israeli occupation.

Police seize millions in huge fake Viagra swoop

Yahoo – AFP, 1 Sep 2014

A customs officer shows counterfeit Viagra pills at the Paris Roissy airport,

on February 9, 2009 (AFP Photo/Martin Bureau)

The Hague (AFP) - Police in several European countries on Monday arrested 12 people and seized millions of euros in assets in a swoop on counterfeit Viagra dealers, authorities said.

The operation against fake, prescription-only medicines, "mainly erectile dysfunction pills", involved police in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Hungary and Britain, European justice organisation Eurojust said in a statement.

"Operations resulted in the seizure of several million pills with an estimated value well in excess of 10 million euros ($13.1 million), a large amount of cash and several vehicles, including luxury models, and the freezing of more than 7.5 million euros in bank accounts and assets," Eurojust said.

The counterfeit drugs were imported into the European Union from China and India and "often contain incorrect dosages and ingredients".

According to the European Alliance for Access to Safe Medicines, 62 percent of drugs bought on the Internet in 2011 were fake.

The Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, a US non-profit medical research group, estimates the traffic in fake medicine generated 55 billion euros globally in 2010, up 90 percent from 2005.

A study conducted by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer in 2010 showed that the European market for fake drugs was worth around 10.5 billion euros.