A Swiss court imposed substantial fines on Thursday on four employees of Russian bank Gazprombank's Swiss subsidiary in connection with moving large sums of money ostensibly for a Russian cellist close to President Vladimir Putin.
The Zurich court fined the former chief executive 540,000 Swiss francs ($590,000), and imposed fines of between 48,000 and 90,000 francs on the other three. All the fines were suspended for two years.
The Gazprombank (Switzerland) employees can appeal.
The case relates to large amounts moved through accounts belonging to the cellist Sergei Roldugin between 2014 and 2016. Prosecutors believe that Roldugin was being used as a front.
The identity of the actual beneficiary was not part of the current case, but the charge sheet noted that Putin had an official income of only around $100,000 per year. The bank stopped its Swiss operations last autumn.
"It cannot be determined who the actual beneficial owner was," said the presiding judge. For the court, however, it was clear that this could not be Roldugin.
Roldugin told the New York Times in an interview in 2014 that he had "no millions."
The Russian president is widely reported to have large sums at his disposal and to use people close to him to manage his financial affairs.
Three of the accused are Russian, and the fourth was born in Zurich. They had all demanded acquittals. The public prosecutor, who had demanded that each defendant receive a seven month suspended prison sentence, expressed his satisfaction on Thursday. The verdict was an important signal for compliance with due diligence in financial transactions, he said.
The investigations in Zurich got underway in 2016 after a network of journalists uncovered dubious money deals around the world. Under the name "Panama Papers," they revealed that a law firm in Panama allowed politicians and celebrities to set up more than 200,000 letterbox companies in which they were said to have hidden assets.
