Despite widespread public reporting about the cellist’s connections to Vladimir Putin (pictured), the bankers signed off on declarations that Sergei Roldugin was not a ‘politically exposed person’ © Sergei Bobylyov/AFP/Getty Images

Reported by: Sam Jones in Zurich

Prosecutors in Switzerland have charged four bankers with helping to hide tens of millions of Swiss francs on behalf of Vladimir Putin, in one of the first ever court cases in the west to directly involve assets allegedly belonging to the Russian president. 

The four individuals were employees of Gazprombank’s Swiss subsidiary, and include its chief executive, Roman Abdulin.

According to an indictment — a copy of which was provided to the Financial Times by a court in Zurich — the bankers were criminally negligent in allowing accounts to be opened in Switzerland on behalf of Sergei Roldugin, a cellist and the godfather to Putin’s daughter, without questioning the origin of the funds flowing through them.

“It is notorious that Russian President Putin officially has an income of just over SFr100,000 and is not wealthy, but in fact has enormous assets managed by people close to him,” the indictment says. “Roldugin . . . [was] a straw man.” 

A spokesperson for Gazprombank Switzerland — which is in the process of winding down its operations as a result of international sanctions against Russia — denied the charges against the bank’s employees, but declined to comment further on “ongoing legal proceedings”.

Read full report: https://www.ft.com/content/7caf49dd-1d44-40b7-825d-01a30e9df822