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That is partly because Raiffeisen was one of the «good guys» after the financial crisis, taking in millions from clients disenchanted with failings at Credit Suisse and UBS, which had to take a state-backed rescue package.

Folksy, Homespun Image

Ceregato, a graduate of prestigious St. Gallen University, had a front-row seat as Vincenz used the ample cash pile to massively expand Raiffeisen's mortgage book – the central bank declared it systemically relevant in 2014 and it remains the country’s largest home equity lender. She also vetted his purchase of stakes in rival firms or, in the case of disgraced private bank Wegelin & Cie, entire firms.

This was when Vincenz’s star turn began: he and Ceregato were often photographed at Swiss society events such as Zurich’s annual media ball. In 2012, he invited photographers to accompany him as he tramped and boated across his native Graubuenden. Vincenz's folksy ways helped him to emerge as a counterpole to big bankers like Brady Dougan, who was reviled in Switzerland after it emerged that Credit Suisse had paid him nearly 90 million Swiss francs in 2010.

Warning Shot

Then, nothing was known of the secret side deals that prosecutors now allege Vincenz took on Raiffeisen acquisitions. But Ceregato had a close call of her own in 2011 in a scandal surrounding a property developer backed by Raiffeisen’s Winterthur branch. The affair had no wider consequences, but highlighted for the first time the diciness of Vincenz and Ceregato sharing home and office.

Ceregato, who didn’t respond to a request for comment, will inevitably be questioned in Vincenz’s criminal investigation, as Raiffeisen boss Gisel was this week (a spokesman for Zurich's prosecutor didn't comment). She has not been spotted in public and may be holed up at home in Appenzell, a tax-friendly canton at Switzerland’s eastern border.

Two weeks ago, Gisel publicly sacked her, saying «it would be better for her and for us» if she left Raiffeisen. She now finds herself in a tricky legal position – both as a lawyer and a wife.