Osama bin Laden's brother is under investigation in France for money laundering, Le Journal du Dimanche reports.
The newspaper said Judge Renaud van Ruymbeke asked Swiss prosecutors for access to bank accounts belonging to Yeslam bin Laden, who has been living in Switzerland since 1973 and has Swiss citizenship.
At issue is a suspicious financial transfer of $300 million to Pakistan via the Deutsche Bank in Geneva. Le Journal du Dimanche said the transfer was from an account held by a branch of the Saudi Binladin Group.
The French judge is also interested in a Swiss bank account held jointly by Yeslam and Osama bin Laden during the 1990s.
Yeslam bin Laden has previously denied having any contact with his brother. He claims the joint account was established to divide the inheritance of his father, which was split up among 54 siblings.
Van Ruymbeke has been investigating financial transactions by the Binladin Group and its affiliates since 2001, the newspaper said.
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International

