World Notes Haiti

"Behind every great fortune there is a crime," wrote Honore de Balzac, and Swiss bankers seem to be concluding that the French novelist was right. Less than one month after freezing the bank accounts of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Switzerland last week took similar action against Haiti's deposed dictator, Jean-Claude ("Baby Doc") Duvalier.

The Haitian government, which requested the action, charges that Duvalier, who fled to France last February in the face of a popular revolt, amassed between $200 million and $900 million during his nearly 15 years as President- for-Life. The Haitians, however, may have waited too long to act. Swiss financial experts believe that Duvalier, who is living with his wife Michele and family in a villa in Grasse, France, could already have transferred his fortune to accounts that do not bear his name.