Switzerland accused bankers of facilitating transfers to Putin’s friend

Switzerland accused bankers of facilitating transfers to Putin’s friend

The Swiss prosecutor’s office has charged four bankers with suspected involvement in money transfers for cellist Sergei Roldugin. Russian President Vladimir Putin calls him his friend. This is reported by Reuters.

Three Russians and one Swiss citizen are among the accused. Prosecutors believe that they were not sufficiently careful in financial transactions and did not conduct the necessary checks to establish whether Roldugin was the true owner of the assets. The names of the bankers are not mentioned. They do not admit guilt and intend to contest the charges.

In Switzerland, banks are obliged to refuse or stop services if there are doubts about the credibility of the person of the contracting party.

According to Reuters, the indictment states that people like Roldugin are used as front persons to hide the true owners of the accounts. The prosecutors also note that officially the president of Russia has an income of 100 thousand Swiss francs (a little more than 100 thousand euros) per hour, but he has huge assets that are managed by people close to him.

According to mass media, Roldugin had two accounts in Gazprombank of Switzerland in 2014. They received millions of francs from Russia. Both accounts were closed in 2016.

Since 2022, Roldugin has been under EU sanctions. Brussels believes that the musician has at least five offshore companies, and he himself is part of Putin’s financial scheme. In addition, the cellist is on the restrictive lists of Canada, the USA, Great Britain and other countries.

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