The Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office is investigating a number of Libyan and Syrian nationals for alleged money laundering.

Office spokeswoman Jeannette Balmer told the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper the Libyan cases also include suspicion of membership in a criminal organization, but she would not give more details on the investigations.

Last week the Money Laundering Reporting Office with the Federal Police reported a 40 percent increase in money laundering cases in 2011.

Of the more than 1,600 cases, 135 were connected to the former or sanctioned regimes in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Syria, with the assets in these cases worth nearly 600 million francs.