Swiss lawmakers seek probe into whether gifts to Trump may have breached law

ZURICH (Reuters) -Two Swiss lawmakers have asked prosecutors to examine whether gifts reportedly given to U.S. President Donald Trump – including a Rolex watch and a gold bar – by Swiss business leaders may have violated Switzerland’s anti-bribery laws.

Switzerland this month struck a framework agreement with the U.S. to cut a 39% tariff on Swiss goods to 15%. The deal came 10 days after a delegation of Swiss business leaders visited Trump in the Oval Office, bearing the gifts, according to Swiss newspaper Blick, U.S. news site Axios and other media reports.

Raphael Mahaim and Greta Gysin, both Green Party members of parliament, said in a letter to the public prosecutor that the legality of the gifts should be assessed by the judicial system.

“The end does not justify all means, especially when respect for important provisions of our legal order is at stake,” they wrote, asking the prosecutor to determine whether the gifts violated the Swiss Criminal Code. The public prosecutor did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

Executives of MSC, Rolex, Partners Group, Mercuria, Richemont and MKS took part in the meeting with Trump, according to a statement seen by Reuters.

Rolex declined to comment. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

When asked for comment by Reuters, Alfred Gantner, a co-founder of Partners Group who attended the meeting, said public–private collaboration had delivered a much-needed resolution to the Swiss-U.S. tariff dispute.

The other companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Under Swiss law, any person can report an offence to a criminal justice authority, which then decides whether criminal proceedings are initiated.

Under Swiss law, offering a foreign public official an “undue advantage” to influence a decision can carry up to five years in prison or a fine.

The lawmakers’ letter listed the gifts but did not name which companies or individuals presented them.

(Reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva and Ariane Luthi in Zurich; Editing by Ros Russell)