Former Raiffeisen boss held in custody
Zurich authorities have placed Pierin Vincenz, the former chief executive of Swiss banking group Raiffeisen who is suspected of corporate fraud, in custody to prevent him communicating with other accused individuals.
Vincenz, also former chairman of the board of directors of credit card company Aduno, was detained on Friday along with a former Aduno board member. In a statement, Zurich prosecutors provided no further details.
Prosecutors accuse Vincenz of playing a double game in takeovers concerning Aduno and investment trust Investnet and personally cashing in. Vincenz denies the accusations.
The 61-year-old has also been dogged by suspicions of conflict of interest during his tenure as Raiffeisen boss, during which he personally invested in subsidiaries of the banking group. Raiffeisen is Switzerland’s third-largest banking group after UBS and Credit Suisse.
The Swiss financial regulator FINMA recently investigated Vincenz’s fitness to hold office, but was forced to drop the probe when Vincenz resigned as chairman of Swiss insurer Helvetia, ending his last active role at a FINMA-regulated company.
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