Swiss 'banker of the year' convicted in graft trial

Zurich

SWISS judges on Wednesday (Apr 13) sentenced former Raiffeisen Switzerland chief executive Pierin Vincenz to 3 and ¾ years in prison as it found him guilty of fraud and other counts in a trial that has gripped the nation with allegations of fraudulent deals and huge strip club bills.

In one of the country's highest-profile corporate crime trials in decades, Zurich's district court convicted Vincenz, a former Swiss "banker of the year" charged with making millions through illicit deals while he was chief executive of the cooperative lender, on several counts. He was found innocent on a number of counts as well. He can appeal the verdict. All 7 defendants in the case had denied the allegations against them.

Prosecutors were seeking nearly 70 million Swiss francs (S$102 million) in total in assets from the seven defendants, as well as pursuing financial penalties and prison sentences ranging from 2 to 6 years for all but one of them.

The case centred around conflicts of interest on deals between a number of firms in which Vincenz and another defendant were involved. Both men were also accused of forgery.

The trial had also featured the 65-year-old's alleged misuse of corporate expenses. Vincenz told the court when it began in January that a near 200,000 Swiss franc expenses bill for strip club visits was largely business-related, while a 700 franc dinner with a woman he met on dating app Tinder was justified because he was considering her for a real estate job. REUTERS