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Ex-CEO of Raiffeisen bank accused of fraud, embezzlement and bribery

The Zurich prosecutor’s office has accused the former head of the Swiss bank Raiffeisen Pierin Vincenz of fraud, embezzlement and bribery after a two-year criminal investigation. «SWI swissinfo.ch» reports.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the attorney general said the criminal investigation has been dropped and nine individuals have been charged, including Vincenza and former head of company Aduno, Beat Stoker.

The main charges relate to commercial fraud, embezzlement and bribery to the detriment of Aduno and Raiffeisen.

In February 2018, the Zurich prosecutor’s office opened a criminal case against Vincenz and several others. Vincenz was accused of illegal enrichment in the acquisition of credit card company Aduno and investment company Investnet.

Raiffeisen bank also joined the criminal probe as a plaintiff.

The reason for the initiation of the criminal case was the complaint of Aduno of December 2017. It is known that Vincenz earned about $ 1.8 million in 2005 from the acquisition of Aduno by the bank, which he headed from 1999 to 2015.

Vincenz was taken into custody while the investigation was ongoing. Finally, he was released after almost 5 months of arrest.

Raiffeisen is Switzerland’s third-largest banking group after UBS and Credit Suisse and is one of four banks that are “too big to fail,” according to Swiss financial regulator FINMA.