Switzerland Charges Four Bankers With Helping Vladimir Putin Hide His Wealth

Swiss prosecutors have charged four bankers with helping to hide Russian President Vladimir Putin's wealth in the country. According to a Reuters report, the bankers who worked at Gazprombank (GZPRI.MM) will stand trial in Zurich next week. The men will appear at Zurich District Court on March 8 accused of lacking diligence in financial transactions.

According to an indictment seen by Reuters, the men are accused of having "failed to exercise due diligence to ascertain the identity of the beneficial owner", of the funds. According to reports by Swiss media, the amount involved in the case was around 50 million Swiss francs ($50 million).

The men, could not be identified under Swiss reporting restrictions, the news agency reported.

A spokesman for Gazprombank said he could not comment on an ongoing trial and referred to the presumption of innocence of the defendants.

As per the indictment, two accounts were opened at Gazprombank in 2014, with the beneficial owner identified as Sergey Roldugin, a close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The bankers did not carry out any checks to see if Mr Roldugin, a cellist and conductor, was the beneficial owner of the assets, it added.

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

The document said that the defendant did not make any attempt to clarify if Roldugin was the real beneficial owner of the assets or where the money came from.

The bank's documents said only Roldugin's professional activity as a musician was listed, making his ownership and involvement "in no way plausible", the court documents said.

In Switzerland, banks are obliged to reject or terminate business relationships if there are initial doubts about the identity of the contracting party.

Both accounts were closed in September 2016.

Roldugin has already been targeted by U.S. sanctions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and has also been sanctioned in Switzerland, whose government referred to him as "Putin's wallet" in its list of blocked people.

The prosecutor is seeking suspended sentences of seven months for each of the bankers.