Trial Zurich High Court finds Gazprombank employees guilty

The Zurich High Court has sentenced four employees of Gazprombank Switzerland to conditional fines for lack of due diligence in financial transactions. It thus essentially confirmed the guilty verdicts of the Zurich District Court from the previous year.

The bank employees' investigations into Sergei Roldugin's accounts were inadequate, said the presiding judge at the sentencing hearing on Tuesday morning in Zurich.

The cellist and conductor Roldugin is considered a close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He opened several accounts with Gazprombank Switzerland (GPBS) in 2014, through which millions of euros subsequently flowed. The bank closed the accounts in fall 2016.

"There were circumstances that indicated that this could be straw man financing," said the judge. Those responsible at the bank had not followed up on these indications.

In the court's opinion, the necessary investigations should also have included clarifying how Roldugin obtained the stake in a Russian media company, presumably worth more than CHF 100 million. Around five to seven million francs flowed annually from this shareholding via Roldugin's accounts at GPBS.

The suspects are the CEO and two other employees of GPBS, which has been in liquidation since fall 2022. The three men are Russian nationals who have been living in Switzerland for some time. A Swiss national who no longer works for the bank was also charged.

The court sentenced them to conditional fines of 110 daily rates each. The bank's CEO received the highest sentence: he must pay 110 daily rates of CHF 3,000 each. The daily rates of the other convicted persons are between 350 and 500 francs.

The judgment of the Zurich High Court is not yet final. It can be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.