Swiss prosecutors demanded a 14-year jail sentence yesterday for Dublin businessman Mr Paul Murphy, who is on trial in Switzerland for allegedly laundering £4.5 million sterling (€7.2 million) and helping Colombian drug barons to finance their international cocaine trade.
But defence lawyers for Mr Murphy (40), from Southern Cross, Bray, Co Wicklow, and co-defendant Mr Andrew Winters (47), from Surrey, England, denied all the charges and called for a full acquittal.
The verdict in the two-week trial is expected late this afternoon.
Prosecutor Mrs Maria Galliani portrayed the Dublin businessman as a financial mastermind operating a large network of accounts, trusts and offshore companies across Europe, the Middle East, North and South America to disguise the money's "criminal origins".
She told the court in the Swiss city of Lugano that both men deserved to be sentenced to 14 years - six years short of the maximum of 20 years for drugs trade financing - because they were "unscrupulous and extremely dangerous".
In addition, Mrs Galliani demanded a £110,000 sterling fine each and a 15-year ban on entering the country.
In her summing up, she told Judge Agnese Balestra-Bianchi she had uncovered "many indications" that the money was the proceeds from the sale of 543 kg of cocaine by a Colombian drug mafia in the US.
It is one of the first Swiss court cases to link money laundering with the drugs trade and one of the stiffest penalties to be asked for in a case of this kind in Switzerland, which is cracking down on white-collar crime.
Mr Murphy and Mr Winters have admitted to their role in these transactions - some as much as £400,000 sterling - but deny it was dirty money and their lawyers told the court prosecutors had no concrete evidence to prove this.
"After 2-1/2 years, prosecutors have failed to come up with any proof of the origin and destination of the money. You must prove intent, i.e. that he [Mr Murphy] knew it was of criminal origin and my client says he didn't know the origin," said Mr Matteo Pedrazzini, Mr Murphy's lawyer.
"Mrs Galliani has uncovered many links that add up to nothing. My client acted on the orders of three Colombian clients in an honourable way," Mr Pedrazzini said, criticising the prosecution's case.
Mr Murphy, wearing a smart checked jacket, chatted with his parents and wife, Carol, briefly during the breaks before being led out by police.
One relative at the trial described him as a "clean-living, respectable family man", adding: "He's innocent - his only fault was to have been a little naive."
