الأثنين, مايو 27th 2024
Four ex-Gazprombank Switzerland employees face Zurich High Court over negligence in financial transactions with a Putin confidant.
Four former employees of Gazprombank Switzerland are on trial before the Zurich High Court this Monday. Previously, the Zurich District Court sentenced them to conditional fines in March 2023 for handling accounts linked to a confidant of President Vladimir Putin.
Over a year ago, the District Court found the four guilty of negligence in financial transactions. After their appeal, the case moved to the Zurich High Court. The CEO, two management members, and a client advisor were fined.
The bankers were accused of maintaining a business relationship with Russian cellist and conductor Sergey Roldugin from 2014 to 2016. They failed to confirm if he was the actual beneficial owner of the assets, through which millions of euros flowed.
Nicknamed “Putin’s cellist” in media reports, Roldugin is known as a confidant of Putin and godfather to his daughter. The presiding judge stated that it was clear Roldugin could not be the true owner.
The court noted that the bank employees ignored warning signs and breached their duty of care. The business relationship should have ended by November 2015, but continued for another year.
Prosecutors argued that Putin’s actual assets are managed by proxies, despite his officially declared small fortune. Gazprombank and its Swiss branch are tied to the state-controlled Russian energy group Gazprom.
The public prosecutor had sought 7-month prison sentences for all defendants, while defense lawyers requested acquittals.
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