Four employees of the Zurich branch of Gazprombank — three Russians and a Swiss — were sentenced to 7 months probation in the case of aiding cellist and friend of Vladimir Putin Sergei Roldugin. It is reported by the BBC.
The Swiss prosecutor's office reported that Roldugin transferred millions of francs to the accounts of local banks, indicating that he was a «cellist» by occupation. The BBC clarifies that we are talking about the transfer of an amount equivalent to $30 million between 2014 and 2016.
The Tages-Anzeiger publication claimed that we are talking about two accounts opened by Roldugin in the Swiss «daughter» Gazprombank. “It is well known that the official income of Russian President Putin is only 100,000 francs and he is allegedly not rich. But in fact, he has huge assets managed by people close to him, ”the indictment said.
According to Swiss law, credit institutions must reject applications to open accounts or close them if they have doubts about the source of the money. The decision of the Zurich District Court states that the four defendants did not establish the beneficiary of the funds on Roldugin's accounts, that is, they were inactive.
The judge said they had to ask questions: “Roldugin had no apparent income, so where did the money come from? If the money was not Mr. Roldugin, then whose money is it? The bankers, whose names are not disclosed in accordance with Swiss law, have pleaded not guilty and are going to appeal the verdict.
In 2016, journalists found information about Roldugin's four offshore companies in the Panama Papers. Billions of transactions with shares of the largest Russian state-owned companies were carried out through them. In 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he was included in the sanctions lists of the US, EU, Canada, UK, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand.