Geneva court frees Borodin on SFr5 million bail
A Geneva court has released on bail a former Kremlin aide, Pavel Borodin, who has been indicted for money laundering. The bail, set at SFr5 million ($3 million), was paid by the Russian government just hours after Thursday's ruling.
No travel restrictions were imposed on the former Russian presidential adviser, even though the court cited “a risk of flight”. It said he would have to make himself available for any further proceedings.
Borodin will be spending Thursday night at the Russian diplomatic mission in Geneva. His lawyers said he will fly to Russia on Friday.
Borodin, 54, was last week indicted by the Geneva justice authorities for money laundering and belonging to a criminal organisation. The court on Thursday ordered that the latter charge be dropped.
Borodin denies any wrongdoing.
The Geneva prosecutor, Bernard Bertossa, accuses him of laundering $25 million in kickbacks from two Swiss firms in exchange for lucrative contracts to renovate the Kremlin.
Borodin’s lawyer, Dominique Poncet, described the bail ruling as “a complete victory”. Another member of his legal team, Vincent Solari, was reported as saying that the Russian Federation had put up the money for Borodin’s bail, paving the way for him to return home.
The former Kremlin property manager was extradited from the United States on Saturday. He had been detained in New York since January on an international arrest warrant issued by the Swiss authorities.
Bertossa had demanded that Borodin be denied bail. He told the court that: “Borodin is politically protected in Russia. I don’t believe for a moment that he would come back to Geneva to explain himself.”
He added that the decision to free Borodin “validates the [money laundering] charge – it is not an empty dossier as he had claimed”.
Borodin appeared for the brief court hearing, before returning to Geneva’s cantonal hospital where is receiving treatment for heart problems in a special wing reserved for detainees.
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