The attorney general of Zurich has filed the long-awaited charges against the ex-boss of Raiffeisen Switzerland, Pierin Vincenz. He isn’t the only person to face charges though.
Fraud, misappropriation, forgery of document and passive corruption to the detriment of payment service provider Aduno and Raiffeisen: these are the charges filed by Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel against Pierin Vincenz as well as Beat Stocker, former head and chairman of Aduno, according to a statement released by the attorney’s office on Tuesday (in German).
The filing is also directed against five other persons and two people have received penalty orders. In total, the attorney general’s criminal investigation included nine people. The seven people are accused of having abided the two principal suspects in their activities.
Taking Undue Advantage
The filing claims that Vincenz and Stocker demanded undue advantage for themselves in connection with the acquisitions of Commtrain Card Solutions, Genève Crédit & Leasing as well as Eurokaution by Aduno (today's Viseca) as well the acquisition of Investnet and the intended purchase of a further firm by Raiffeisen. They are said to have been granted those advantages in no small part.
The attorney also claims that the two main suspects demanded unjustified expenses from Aduno and Raiffeisen. All accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The Background
The investigation started in December 2017 and included the attorney of Zurich, St. Gallen, and the police force of Zurich. An internal probe by Bruno Gehrig at Raiffeisen found nothing untoward in 2019.
Finma, the Swiss banking regulator, in 2017 stopped its enforcement procedure against Vincenz after he resigned as chairman of Helvetia insurance company.
