Swiss bankers to face trial: they helped Putin's wallet transfer money

Four bankers who worked for Gazprombank will appear before the Zurich District Court on March 8 next week on charges that they helped a man known as Putin's "wallet" transfer millions of Swiss francs to Switzerland.

Source. Reuters

They "failed to exercise due diligence to establish the identity of the beneficial owner" of these funds, the court's indictment said.

Swiss media reported that the amount involved in the case is about $53 million.

A Gazprombank spokesperson said he could not comment on the ongoing trial and referred to the presumption of innocence of the accused.

According to the indictment, in 2014, two accounts were opened at Gazprombank, the beneficial owner of which was Sergei Roldugin, a cellist and close confidant of Russian President Putin.

The bankers did not conduct any checks to determine whether Roldugin, a cellist and conductor, was the beneficial owner of the assets," the indictment adds.

"At the time the account was opened, it was reported... that Sergey Roldugin was a close friend of Russian President Putin and the godfather of his daughter," the indictment says.

The bank's documents only listed Roldugin's professional activities as a musician, making his ownership and involvement with the funds "by no means plausible," according to court documents.

Both accounts were closed in September 2016.

Roldugin is under U.S. sanctions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as sanctions from Switzerland, whose government has named him a "Putin's purse" on its list of blocked persons.

Background. As a reminder, the Swiss authorities initiated the confiscation of assets of people close to Yanukovych.