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Four bankers who helped a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin - Russian politician.

Born on October 7, 1952 in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg. After transferring millions of francs through Swiss bank accounts, he was sentenced in Switzerland for negligent attitude to financial transactions, reported Reuters.

The four were found guilty today of helping concert cellist Sergei Roldugin, dubbed "Putin's wallet".

The bankers are three Russians who work in Zurich and a Swiss.

They helped Roldugin, who is the godfather of Putin's eldest daughter Maria, deposit millions of francs in Swiss bank accounts between 2014 and 2016.

The men, whose identities cannot be released under Swiss privacy restrictions, were found guilty by the district court in the city of Zurich.

The four were ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of Swiss francs in fines, some of which, under Swiss law, can be waived if they meet certain conditions.

The case shows how people like Roldugin were used as a front to hide the true owners of the money, the indictment seen by Reuters said.

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

The four bankers helped Roldugin manage two bank accounts at Gazprombank Switzerland in Zurich, through which millions of francs passed without carrying out sufficient checks, the court said.

The prosecution argued that the men did not do enough to establish the identity of the true owner of the funds and it was implausible that it was Roldugin.

Four bankers on trial in Switzerland because of Putin's Cellista millions

According to the Swiss prosecutor's office, the case is about 30 million Swiss francs (about 30.13 million euros - note ed.), although the musician, who appears on the Swiss list of sanctioned Russians, has no registered activity as a businessman.

Roldugin himself has previously stated to the New York Times that he is certainly not a businessman and that he himself does not own millions, the indictment states.

Roldugin was among dozens of members of Putin's inner circle sanctioned by the West, including in Switzerland, after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

According to the prosecutor's office, all the evidence indicates that Sergey Roldugin was not the real owner of the funds.

The bankers did not follow the rules and should therefore be punished, the state prosecution said.

In the past, Putin has called Roldugin a friend, a brilliant musician and a benefactor who honestly earned a certain amount of money as a minority shareholder in a Russian company.

The Kremlin had previously rejected any suggestion that Roldugin's funds were linked to the Russian leader, calling them anti-Russian "Putinophobia".

The Kremlin claims that Putin's funds are in the public domain and that he regularly declares his assets and salary to Russian voters.

Roldugin confirmed in writing last year that the bank had correctly identified him as the beneficial owner of the accounts, the defense argued.

Furthermore, there was no reason to doubt that Roldugin was the true owner of the accounts.

According to the defense, it is "plausible" that Roldugin is rich because he is a friend of Putin.

"Sergei Roldugin is not just a cellist and conductor, but also a favorite of the Kremlin, who apparently had access to special financing opportunities that allowed him to accumulate considerable wealth," the defense said at a briefing before the trial, BTA reported.

While this kind of favoritism might be frowned upon in Switzerland, it is not relevant to the case, Roldugin's defense noted.

Vladimir Putin

Russia

Switzerland

bankers