Swiss court fines 4 bankers in connection with Putin’s associate’s account
A Swiss court on Thursday imposed substantial fines on four employees of Russian bank Gazprombank’s Swiss subsidiary.
The bankers were fined in connection with moving large sums of money ostensibly for a Russian cellist close to President Vladimir Putin.
The Zurich court fined the former chief executive 540,000 Swiss francs (590,000billion dollars), and imposed fines of between 48,000 and 90,000 francs on the other three. All the fines were suspended for two years.
The Gazprombank (Switzerland) employees have the option of lodging an appeal.
The case relates to large amounts that was moved through accounts belonging to the cellist Sergei Roldugin between 2014 and 2016.
Prosecutors believe that Roldugin was being used as a front.
The identity of the actual beneficiary was not part of the current case, but the charge sheet noted that Putin had an official income of only around 100,000 billion dollars per year.
The Russian president is widely reported to have large sums at his disposal and to use people close to him to manage his financial affairs.
Three of the accused were Russians, and the fourth was born in Zurich. The prosecution had called for a sentence of seven months suspended in each case.(dpa/NAN)
