The past few months have been unpleasant for the precious metals conglomerate built by Axel Diegelmann and his family. It consists of the gold trading company Rheingold Edelmetall in Triesen, its namesake sister companies in Germany and Switzerland, the open customs warehouse in Liechtenstein, the custodian Liemeta, often referred to as the «Liechtenstein Fort Knox,» and the company AuASYZ.

Together with Rheingold Edelmetall, three members of the Diegelmann family were placed on the «Specially Designated Nationals» (SDN) list by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on February 23, 2024, in connection with Russia sanctions.

Still on the Sanctions List

Just yesterday, Monday, finews.com reported that the sanctioned individuals' efforts to get off the SDN list have so far been unsuccessful. To this end, they filed a lawsuit against the involved U.S. authorities and their representatives, including Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen, in April.

As finews.com has now learned, the gold traders' legal headaches are not limited to U.S. sanctions. In Liechtenstein, the public prosecutor's office is investigating Rheingold Edelmetall in a different context.

Prosecutor Conducts «Preliminary Investigations»

Upon inquiry, the prosecution authority confirmed: «The Liechtenstein Public Prosecutor's Office is conducting preliminary investigations against Rheingold Edelmetall AG, among others, on suspicion of fraud and subsidy abuse.»

The suspicion is not related to Russia sanctions, and no further details will be disclosed during the investigations. The prosecutor's office did not answer whether investigative actions such as house searches had taken place.

The suspicion of subsidy abuse, roughly equivalent to Swiss subsidy fraud, is noteworthy. After all, last March, an employee of the Office of Economic Affairs, who had been on sick leave since November, took over the management of some of the Diegelmann companies, but not Rheingold Edelmetall itself. finews.com reported on this at the time.

Presumption of Innocence Applies

As a result, she was dismissed from the Office of Economic Affairs. In April 2024, she also relinquished her mandates with the companies in the Diegelmann environment, as reported by «Liechtensteiner Vaterland» (article behind a paywall).

Rheingold Edelmetall is presumed innocent. According to the Liechtenstein Code of Criminal Procedure, preliminary investigations either lead to the opening of an investigation, the direct filing of charges, or the discontinuation of the proceedings.