Federal Court confirms conviction of bankers in Rodulgin case
Switzerland's highest court has upheld the conviction of four former Gazprombank employees. They failed to adequately investigate the source of millions of francs.
Federal Court confirms conviction of bankers in Rodulgin case
Switzerland's supreme court has upheld the penalties against four former employees of Gazprombank. The Zurich lower court had sentenced them to conditional fines for negligent due diligence.
The convicted individuals had not conducted sufficient research to establish whether Sergei Rodulgin was truly the legitimate owner of assets held in accounts in two foreign companies. These accounts were opened in 2014. Various indicators should have raised suspicion: the musician was scarcely known internationally, despite approximately ten million francs being transferred through the accounts. Moreover, much pointed to a shell company arrangement.
Rodulgin, a Russian cellist and conductor, is close to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin.
The judges in Lausanne clarified the legal interpretation of due diligence obligations. If the beneficial owner is correctly identified, no punishment would apply. However, if this fails due to insufficient investigation, criminal liability remains.
For the bank's former chief, the judges imposed the maximum possible daily rate of 3,000 francs. The three other defendants must reckon with daily rates of between 350 and 500 francs.
Source: SRF
Source: SRF